FRIDA, OCTOBER 15, 1948 THE MICHIGAN DAILY PAGE SE~UVEN .... .., . ..r a a a as r v.ei+. JIL 11 L 1 eavwa;r oju r MIN mmommommommomw I : Pass Defense, Signal Drills i i t M' Workout U\ DRUM BEATER: Boosting Athletic Fame Chief Job of Les Etter By HERB RUSKIN Spreading the name and fame of Wolverine athletics throughout the country is the principle job of Les Etter, Michigan's very able athletic publicity director. However, the sending out of press releases and mats to the va- rious newspapers in the United States is far from the only task that falls to this behind-the- scenes man in the Michigan ath- letic set up. * * * ONE OF THE more difficult jobs that comes under Etter's di- rection is running of the press boxes. He must see to admit- tance and seating, not only for football, but for the other major sports as well. One cold day last spring during the baseball season, he earned the gratitude of those members of the press that were covering the game by bringing hot coffee to them in the press box. On other occa- sions, when the weather was milder, soft drinks were brought up. Many times, when important football games come up away from home, it is Etter who precedes the team to site of the contest and Smith Seeks Pro Contract EAST LANSING --(P)-Horace Smith, speedy Jackson Negro back, who quit the Michigan State Col- lege football team, is open for pro offers if any of the play-for-pay teams are interested. Smith said he walked out of the Spartan football camp because he felt he wasn't being used enough offensively. Jigh scorer with 30 points last year, Smith only carried the ball four times in three games so far this season. Among his five touchdowns last year were two that won the Temple game 14-6. works in close contact with the local press, giving them any and all information desired. WHEN A RADIO interview with any Michigan coach or player comes up, the arrangements are SPORTS HERB RUSKIN, NIGHT EDITOR usually made through the public- ity office. Often, he is called upon to go before the "mike" himself. Though admitting that "the job is heaviest during the foot- ball season, it certainly isn't seasonal in nature." The football programs for the home games, as well as the grid- iron guide that comes out at the beginning of the year, are the products of Etter's efforts. ETTER HAS BEEN closely as- sociated with athletics most of the time since he was in college. Dur- ing his undergraduate days at Minnesota, he was a member of the track and cross-country teams as well as sports editor of both the Minnesota Daily and their year- book the Gopher. During his summers at school, he worked on the Duluth News Tribune and the Minneapolis Journal and upon his gradua- tion in 1930, he was appointed the first athletic publicity di- rector at Minnesota. Upon leaving this post in 1935, he took up with the Associated Press. Public relations and then worked with an advertising agency featured in Life from 1938 until 1944, when he assumed his pres- ent post in the Michigan athletic scene. Autumn Golf Competition At Mid Point Kessler Captures Crawford Trophy Fall golf competition reached the half way point yesterday when Coach Bert Katzenmeyer an- nounced that Rog Kessler, veteran Wolverine golfer, had won the first annual invitational William B. Crawford trophy with a medal score of 295, the lowest posted by 38 top-notch campus golfers. The other half of fall golf ac- tivity is now centered on the an- nual Trueblood Cup Tournament that has just entered its second round of match play, eight men still competing for honors in the traditional all-campus tourna- ment. IN CAPTURING the Crawford Trophy, Kessler shot excellent golf to finish with a five stroke ad- vantage over Ed Schalon, re-elect- ed captain of next year's team. Kessler posted rounds of 73, 76, 70, 76 while Schalon was touring the watersoaked course lin 76, 72, 75, 77. The tournament, which comes after a full summer of golf for most of the competitors, gives the golfers an excellent opportunity to display their consistency over the long 72 hole route. ALTHOUGH a nucleus of five lettermen will return to the links next spring, there were strong in- dications that this year's sopho- more crop would put the pressure on the veterans. Babe Mattson, who took third in the tournament with a 305, Leo Houser, low medalist in the Trueblood qualifying rounds with 149, and Bob Olson all shot fine golf to give the spring Michigan's title hopes a consid- erable boost. Then, for those who may be thinking a couple of years further along, a promising crop of fresh- man golfers burst forth in their initial appearance in Michigan competition. This year's Junior Amateur Champion, Dean Linn, two Ohio boys, Dick Evans from Cleveland and Chuck Spross from Toledo, Jim Dickson from Ypsilanti and Warren Gast of St. Joseph, Mich- igan form the nucleus of the fresh- man group. firom toe By MURRAY GRANT ... Daily Sports Editor WE WERE pretty proud about picking the upset of the week in our last group of selections, as we called the triumph Iowa scored over a highly-favored Ohio State eleven, but looking at our overall record we lost a lot of that pride. We picked all the midwestern games, but when we moved out of our own backyard the pickings were awfully lean. Our score was six out of ten for a season's mark of 20 wins and 9 losses for a percentage of .690. Navy, our old nemesis, went down for the third straight week and we were caught aboard their sinking ship as Duke swamped the Middies, 28-7. And out on the West Coast Rice invaded the Southern California bailiwick and went home with a 7-0 triumph, much to our chagrin. But we'll wipe the slate clean and try again now with the ten top games around the nation. MICHIGAN-NORTHWESTERN-This is definitely the game of the, day with the two powers in the Big Nine locking horns. The Wildcats have a great backfield and excellent line, but the Wolverines can match anything. Each team wants to win this one for any number of reasons. The Wildcats are strong, but Michigan is stronger. The Wolverines will roll to their eighteenth straight victory. MINNESOTA-ILLINOIS-Both clubs took it on the chin last week as Army outlasted the Illini, 26-21 and Northwestern came from behind to whip the Gophers, 19-16. Illinois has a couple of passers, but Minnesota has everything else. The Gophers on the rebound. OHIO STATE-INDIANA-Indiana had her applecart really upset last week and so did Ohio State. They'll both be looking to get back on victory road. Strangely enough Indiana is tied with Northwestern for the Big Nine lead and this corner thinks they'll still have an undefeated conference record after they clash with the Buckeyes. Indiana, in another whing-ding battle. PURDUE-IOWA-The Hawkeyes may have upset Ohio State last week, but Purdue can't be as bad as the scores have indicated. Stu Holcomb has probably fed his Boilermakers Wheaties this week and the men of Iowa are going to take the wrath of a resurgent Purdue eleven. YALE-WISCONSIN-Wisconsin has developed into a Big Nine have-not and after the beating California administered they need a rest, not another tough game. But Yale's bulldogs are good and should give the Badgers another whipping, though nothing like Cali- fornia dished out. PENN-COLUMBIA-Two of the powers in the East clash at Franklin Field for the edge in the race toward the Ivy League crown. Columbia edged Yale in their last outing, but Penn isn't Yale and the Lions will have tougher fare this week. The Quakers should feast on Lion meat this Saturday. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-OREGON-The Trojans lost to Rice last week and aren't the team they were last season. Oregon is on the lookout for a Rose Bowl bid and won't let Southern Cal stand in their way. Oregon on the mighty right arm of Van Brocklin. NORTH CAROLINA-NORTH CAROLINA STATE - Crossr state rivals get together in what is usually a good scrap. But not this year. The Tarheels are number one in the country and Justice is still going great. NAVY-MISSOURI-After last week we swore we would never speak of Navy again. But here they are again, biting off more than they can chew, or so say the experts. But we have a hunch-our last hunch on Navy-. The Missourians are ripe for an upset and the Middies have to win someday. So it's way out on our limb and our pick is-Navy. Wolverines Close to Peak As Wildcat Contest Nears Squad's Top Physical, Mental Condition Forecasts Stellar Play for Tomorrow's Tilt Intent on maintaining Michi- gan's strong defense which has held three teams to one disputed touchdown in 12 quarters of play, Coach Bennie Oosterbaan sent his charges through a stiff practice session emphasizing signal drills and pass defense. The fortunes of the Wolverines jumped when it was announced that end Ed McNeill's leg injury was improving and that the offen- sive star might see action against Northwestern tomorrow. ** * * GENE DERRICOTTE, one of Michigan's candidates for All- American honors is still nursing his knee and although he partici- pated in the squad's workouts, is not expected to take over his backfield position until the Wol- verines tackle the Gophers of Minnesota. If spirit determines the out- come of football contests, then Michigan has taken a long stride towards retaining its Western Conference title. Led by Dick "master of cere- monies" Rifenburg, the squad talked it up and executed its as- signments yesterday afternoon as if they had just annexed the right to enter the Rose Bowl game. * * * IN PASS DEFENSE, the one easy to detect flaw in the Wol- verine machine, Coach Oosterbaan and his staff stressed protection against the flat pass. Wally Teninga, Chuck Ort- mann and Leo Koceski devoted their skill to the punting de- partment and attempted, to per- fect "coffin corner" kicking. Teninga also sharea with Ort- mann the passing honors of the session as the two backfield stars hit ends Ozzie Clark, and Dick Rif- enburg with ground gaining passes. THE SQUAD separated into its customary four units for the sig- nal drills under the quarterback- ing of Pete Elliott and Bob Bart- lett. Coach Oosterbaan deviated from his usual schedule in the light work session yesterday in place of another day's scrimmage and is expected to devote today's prac- tice to additional defense workout and blackboard drill. 150-Pounders Set- Squad Tilt Michigan's 150 pound football coach, Cliff Keen, and his assist- ants, will get a closer line on their grid prospects this afternoon when they send the lightweights through their second intra-squad game of the year. With the squad shaved down following last week's scrimmage in which 60 men participated, Keen has been spending more time this week grooming men for individual positions. He has also been strengtheningethe Maizeand Blue lightweight eleven by shifting men to different posts. The booting of Frank White- house, who shared punting in the 1947 season, was very impressive in yesterday's drill, which was de- voted to punting and a light scrimmage. WALLY TENINGA ... booming boots trosBck Show Marked Improvement Wally Weber's freshman foot- ballers showed marked improve- ment in handling the tricky Wol- verine offense yesterday in a long scrimmage at Ferry Field. Spearheaded by a whole host of young backfield prospects, the blue - shirted offensive team raced up and down the field. Coach Weber kept shifting his backfield men, and many of them looked good wherever they played. Don Peterson, who has operated from the tail back position in most of the freshman drills, was shifted to the fullback slot this week, where he has tried the fancy ball handling and spinning that his older brother Tom does for the Varsity. LET'S . . . to e BEER : BEER -- WINE -- MIXERS DRIVE-THRU COURTEOUS SERVICE NO PARKING Daily 10 A.M. - 10 P.M. - Sunday, Noon - 7 P.M. 114 E. Williams Phone 7191 }} . f J <:r5{ . r. f. i }} ^ ...:".