SPORTS
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The University Daily
KANSAN
April 19. 1984 Page 16
Money hampering tradition of KU Relays
Last year, the Kansas Relays were rejuvenated. The Soviet Union sent a contingent of athletes to Lawrence, where it assert that had been steadily declining.
For the first time in many years, there was a genuine interest in the
JEFF CRAVENS
Sports Editor
But this year, it is back to business as usual for the Relays. The local media came back, not necessarily out of a sense of obligation, but more out of a sense of obligation.
The Kansas Relays have slowly but surely changed over the years. Once it was one of the Big Three — along with Colorado and New York — the Relays Now, it is just another track meet
NO ONE IS really to blame. Bob Timmons is still Bob Timmons, albeit a little older. Excepting a down year this season, the KU track teams have still dominated the region in the past several years.
The problem is money. The Kansas Relays cannot afford to put on a top-netch track event any longer. The cost that top performers such as Carl Lewis or Edwin Moses demand is just too high. And that is a sad statement.
No one is more upset about it than Timmons.
"Professionalism is dominating American track and field." Timmons said. "About one-half of the guys competing as amateurs are not. That is why we are institution we have for being an amateur, but we are just kidding ourselves."
THAT IS WHY the Relays are not attracting the big names of the track world. Where the Relays were once a must meet for a big name, it has become basically a local meet with the only outside competition coming from college teams who bring their performers.
Take this year's entry list. The
400-meters is definitely the class event. Former KU standout Cliff Wiley, one of the top sprinters in the world, was going to be the premier performer, but he scratched earlier this week. However, several others have already met or are near the Olympic trials qualifying time.
There are a few other name performers, but most have local ties or they wouldn't bother showing up.
"When we don't get great help with restrictions, the top performers make big demands that we can't afford." Timmons said. "In some cases, you have to offer $15,000 to $20,000 or they won't even talk to you. That is why this has become basically a college and high school meet."
INDEED, TIMMONS has only a $30,000 budget to work from. To pay one or two athletes to come in — even for what seems to be a paltry figure of $10,000 — the budget would be obliterated.
"Even if we could bring in two or three athletes for between $5,000 and $10,000, we couldn't even pay for our medals or the other costs of the Relays," Timmons said. "I think that
attitude has hurt a lot of great athletes They are destroying the sport."
Now the average fan is probably wondering how the top athletes accept this money. These guys are supposed be doing this in the spirit of amateurism, which means for free. That is what the United State supposed prides itself on. Look at the example they made of athletes such as Dwight Stones who participated in professional track and field.
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE between those guys and one of today's amateurs is that Stones and his crew took their money over the table. A change in the rules is definitely in order, and moments intend to take it to the NCAA
"The Russians say that giving an athlete a scholarship is like paying him because in most cases he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for sports." Timmons said. "In a sense, they are right. Right now, the top athletes are getting paid but there are lots of athletes who get no aid."
Timmons' suggestion is for the United States to quit kidding around and get rid of amateur status for its Olympic team. He says we should put
our best athletes out there, whether they are paid or not.
"LOOK AT THE Russian hockey team," Timmons said. "They are all in the army and are getting paid to play hockey year-round. That is professional because they are getting paid to perform. I think we ought to send over international basketball players on the Olympic team. It is the same principle."
WHEN DIE, 3 should be bursting over a 7-footer named. Vladimir is another question. Timmons has a valid argument, one that has been kicked around for a long time. Who knows whether the United States will ever change?
But one thing is for certain. The Kansas Rails probably will never return to the glory days that it once knew. It is a Catch 22. With a limited budget, the Rales cannot afford the top athlete; without the top athletes, they won't come in; and without the big owls, the budget cannot be expanded.
It is too bad that an institution has fallen by the wayside because of the money-hungry athletes in track and field. During the days of Jim Rum and Al Oerter*
File photo
Former KU standout Lynette Woodard, the leading scorer in the history of the women's Division I collegiate basketball, will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., today to try out for the U.S. Olympic team. Woodard was selected for the 1980 team but did not compete because of the U.S. boycott.
Woodard hopes long journey will lead to gold at Olympics
By PHIL ELLENBECKER Sports Writer
Lynette Woodard, the leading scorer in women's Division I collegiate basketball history, this morning began her first game. She would end with an Olympic gold medal.
The former University of Kansas standout was scheduled to leave this morning for Colorado Springs, Colo., where she will join the 106 other players who have been invited to the women's basketball Olympic Trials.
By early May, those 107 will have whitened down to 16. Woodard said. Those 16 will play a series of international games, after which the 12 players who will make up the U.S. team in this summer's Olympic Games in Los Angeles will be announced. The other four will be the team's alternates.
IT'S ALMOST a forgone conclusion that Woodward will be among the 12 selected. After all, she was a starter and a leading scorer on U.S. teams that won the gold medal at last summer's Caracas, Venezuela, and the silver at last year's world championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"You don't have to be worried when you're prepared, and I'm prepared." Woodward said. "I've been working all the time that skills fitness, I've done it."
"I think that most of the girls there, all of them, I hope, will be talented athletes that will allow me to do more." she said. "I'll look for the strong points in the individuals I'll be performing with, and try to enhance what they do best. I'll try to get them the ball where they like it."
ALTHOUGH WOODARD won't have much to prove at the Trials, she will get a chance to work with her future Olympic teammates. She said she didn't think she would have any trouble blending in with the other players.
In its preview of the 84 Olympic women's basketball competition, Women's Sports magazine said of Woodard, "For pure athletic skill, dependability, leadership and grace, there is not a better player in the United States. An Olympic team without her borders on the unthinkable."
"AS A MATTER of fact, I think its sharper because of the fact that you know you don't have a season to play, so your efforts are much more concentrated," she said. "Oh boy, if I had had to learn to do this, do now when I was playing for KU."
Woodard qualified for the 1980 Olympic team, which didn't compete in the Moscow Games because of President Carter's boycott. After competing in Italy for a year, she returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach. She has not had it suffered because of the lack of her game competition the past two years.
Woodard said her experience as an assistant under KU head coach Marian Washington had been a definite aid to her game.
The coach of the Olympic team is Tennessee coach Pat Head Summit. Woodard said she knew everything he needed to know about Summit's philosophy.
"It shines a whole new light on everything," she said.
the Soviet Union, which won the gold medal in both 1976 and 1980, the only two years in which women's basketball has been played at the Olympics.
"Defense — that's the first and last line," she said. "Hard-nosed defense."
"I have no doubts that we will get the gold," Woodard said in a determined yet modest way. "Player for player, we have more talent than anybody, but we can't compete with unity. That word entails so many things that I cannot start to go into it."
WOODARD SAID SHE learned her concept of unity after the U.S. team lost by one point to the Soviets in last year's world championships.
"We should have had that game — we wanted that game," she said. "When we got to Caracas it was 'Forget everything, the chips are down, we're bringing home the gold.' I'm talking about a single mindfulness and devotion."
The main threat standing in the way of a U.S. gold at the Olympics will be
The Soviet national team has been defeated only once since 1958. That defeat came in 1982 at the hands of a U.S. team, of which Woodward was the captain. He scored 21 points in the 1983 victory, which was played in Budapest, Hungary.
Woodard couldn't hide her enthusiasm when asked what a gold medal in this year's Games could mean for the popularity of women's basketball in
"We're talking computer age," she said. "We're prepared to go big time."
Woodard said that she had many dreams and plans for after the Olympics but that she was unsure of what the future held.
"It's hard to say what's going to open up," she said. "This is America. If you win a gold medal, all kinds of things can happen."
Softball team sweeps pair from K-State
Jayhawks' Bunge throws no-hitter in 9-0 triumph
By GREG DAMMAN Sports Writer
Bunge's pitching paced the Jayhawks to a five-inning 9-0 victory in the first game.
The Jayhawks shut out the Wildcats again in the second game, winning 4-0. The victories came after the Jayhawks games against OSU and NU on Monday.
"These are really good victories for us." KU assistant coach Shelly Fox said. "To bounce back like that after two defeats is positive."
A no-hitter by Tracy Bunge yesterday highlighted the Kansas softball team's sweep of a double-header against Kansas State in Manhattan.
In the first game. Bunge pitched five innings and had six strikeouts and only one walk, raising her record to 10-6.
SHE WAS coming off a 9-1 loss to Big Eight power Nebraska
Kansas had nine hits in the game and one error. Kelly Downs led the Jayhawk batters, going two for three with four RBIs.
Laura Cramer had one hit in two at-bats and two RBIs. Bunge aided her own cause by going two for three at the plate.
"It's a tremendous hit for a pitcher to throw a no-hitter in this game," Fox
"I think it says something about our defense."
Kim Tisdale was the starting pitcher in the second game, allowing five hits in
She had three strikeouts and two walks. Her record is now 4-4.
The Jayahawks ' four runs came on seven hits, as Bunge again had two hits in three trips to the plate. DOWNs had a single hit and Kell May had a single and an RBI.
KANSAS NOW has an overall record of 14-10 and a Big Eight Conference record of 4-3. The Wildcats are winless in conference play.
KU has a single game scheduled April 28 with Colorado and a doubleheader April 29 with K-State and Colorado before the Big Eight Tournament May 5-13 in Bartlesville, Okla, and the NCAA Tournament May 17-18.
The Jayhawks have ruled out an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and instead are hoping to win the national title in a unanimous matricial bid to the NCAA first round.
"Within our region, we're down a ways behind OSU, NU, OU and Creighton, and to move up would be the same." RU head coach Bob Stancill said.
Lakers defeat Kings 116-105 in first game
By United Press International
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Magic Johnson scored 26 points and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added 19 last night, helping the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Kansas City Kings 116-105 in the game of a best-of-five playoff series.
Game two will be played at the Forum tomorrow night before the series shifts to Kansas City, Mo., for the third game and a fourth if necessary.
In defeating the Kings for the 24th consecutive time on their home floor, the Lakers used a decisive 10-2 run in the third quarter to pull ahead 79-59. Los Angeles, playing without starters from Ron Scott, then coached to the trumpet,
THE KINGS, who lost coach Cotton Fitzsimons to two technicals in the first minute of the second half, were within 67-57 on an acrobatic drive by Larry Drew. But the Lakers, defending their Western Conference game, played and used a ferocious fastbreak start by several block shots to put it away.
Mike McKee soared for a jam, then hit a layup before Mark Oberding hit two fire throws for Kansas City. Abdul-Jabbar hit two skybooks, Johnson a drive and Kurt Rambis a dunk for the 20-point advantage.
Eddie Johnson had 25 points for the Kings and Mike Woodson added 13. James Worthy scored 16 for Los Angeles.
The Lakers rode a 13-2 spurt in the middle of the second quarter to a 67-44 win.
In other NLA play action, New
jersey detected Philadelphia 11-10-1
37.5 yards in the first half.
Wiley cancels out of Relays
KU's McKernan 3rd in heptathlon
The first day of competition at the KU Relays ended yesterday with Jayhawks Connie McKernan, Rosie Wadman and Julie Hall holding down third, fourth and fifth place in the heathpaton and a former Jayhawk, Owen Buckley, in second place in the decathlon.
By GREG DAMMAN
The seven-event heptathlon includes the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot-put and 200 on the first half of the race. The athlete placed with 3,286 points, followed by
One well-known athlete who had planned to compete in the Relays, former KU spinter Cliff Wiley, will not be able to compete because of business conflicts. Wiley is one of the 400-meter runners in the world.
Sports Writer
The Relays will continue today and tomorrow, and will end on Saturday.
BUCKLEY, WHO competed in the decathlon for Kansas in last year's Relays, trailed first-day leader Gary Grefe by 29 points. Gefrei compete for the Southwest Stars Track Club and the Mountain States Trials. He finished the day with 3.995 points, followed by Buckley with 3.966 and Tom Leutz of North Dakota State
THE NEXT THREE places were occupied by Kansas as McKernan ended the day with 3,030 points, followed by Wadman with 2,949 and Hall with 2,884. McKernan won the hurdles in a time of 14.2 seconds. Clark placed first in the three other events.
"That's about where I planned to be," McKernan said. "I had two good events today. My best event is the hurdles."
Val Lerndignan of Murray State with 3,149 points. Clark won the pentathlon at the Big Eight Conference Indoor Championships earlier in the season.
BUCKLEY ENDED the day by winning the 400 in a time of 48.6. He also placed first in the long jump at 23.7 and the 100 in 10.7.
In June, Buckley hopes to be in Los Angeles attempting to make the U.S. Olympic team. He needs a score of 7,775 to qualify for the Olympic Trials and has a best score of 7,503, set last year at the Texas Relays. Buckley said if he didn't reach the qualifying score today, he would try again.
Error helps Detroit defeat Royals 4-3
Buckley finished fourth in the shot-put with a put of 41 feet, three-quarters inches for 632 points. He then threw more than nine feet farther.
DETROIT — Alan Trammmell scored from third base in the 10th inning on Frank White's two-out error at second base last night to keep the Detroit Tigers undefeated with a 4-3 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.
"I felt pretty good about it," he said
about the 400. "It will be there in June
By United Press International
The Tigers were playing their first game in five days because of rainouts. Detroit remains the only undefeated team with a 9-0 record.
The Royals, meanwhile, fell to 6-4 and below the 50 for the first at two innings.
"I had two bad events," Buckley said. "The shot-put and high jump They weren't good, but they weren't disastrous. You've got to be ready."
with 3.794.
Trammell opened the inning against Joe Beckwitt, 0-1, with a ground single up the middle and was bunted to second by Dave Bergman.
HE WEEN TO third when Lance Parrish grounded out and scored when Larry Hernndon hit an easy two-hopter off the baseline, then offenced on the second baseman's glove.
Willie Hernandez won his first American League decision with one scoreless inning in relief of Jack Morris.
Kansas City's Jorge Ohta hit a
knee in the top of the
camisole to hit two out in the
top of the net.
They were the first earned runs given up by Morris in 28 innings.
Detroit got a run in the second when Herndon tripped and Chet Lemon doubled, and made it 4-0 in the fourth. He then scored with his second home run of the season.
Tom Brooksens singed home a run in the seventh after Rod Allen singed home a goal.
THE ROYALS and Tigers will meet again at 1:30 this afternoon in Detroit. Blud Black, 3-0, will face Dan Petry, 2-0.
The Royals are then scheduled for a five-game road trip.
Baseball roundup Mariners slip by Oakland 5-4
By United Press International
Rookie Al Davis' two-out, ninth-inning double scored Jack Perconte with the winning run to give the Oakland A in Seattle Wednesday.
Percone singled with one out off Keith Atherton, 0-1. Bill Caudill, who has three wins and three saves in six games, came on to pitch for Oakland with two out and Davis slammed his shot of the game for the winning run.
Paul Mirabella, 1-0, worked himself out of a ninth-inning, loaded jams into the game.
The A's trailed 4-1 going into the eighth inning but Dwayne Murphy doubled and Bruce Bochte singled to chase Mariners starter Bob Stoddard. Carney Lansford greeted Mike Stanton with a single, scoring Murphy, and Mike Davis singled to load the bases.
Murphy doubled home Donnie Hill, who had walked, in the fifth innings to tie
Davis had doubled home Perconte to give the Mariners a 1-1 lead in the first. Davis has hit in seven straight games and was called up from the minors on April 6.
A FIELDER'S CHOICE by Gary Hancock scored Bochte. Mike Heath doubled into the left-field corner, scoring Lansford with the tyring run, but Hancock was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
IN OTHER GAMES, Toronto to
teach Baltimore 7-1, and the New York
Yankees 6-4.
In the Seattle fifth, Perconte and Phil Bradley signed. Al Davis then whipped a double into the right-field corner, scoring two runs. An intentional walk to Pat Putnam and an infield single by the Hawks ended in Oakland starter Larry Sorenson then walked Dave Henderson, forcing in Davis to make it 4-1.
At Toronto, Dave Stieb fired a five-hitter and Dave Collins went 3 for 4 with three RBI and two stolen bases to lead the Blue Jays. It was Toronto's third straight win and Baltimore's ninth loss in 11 games. Steb, 2-0, struck out five and walked two in eight innings he lost his bid for a run in outspinning pinch hitter Joe Nolte hit his first home run of the season for the Orioles.
In National League action, the New York Mets defeated Montreal 5-4. Pittsburgh downed Philadelphia 6-3. Atlanta beat St. Louis 5-4 in 10 innings. Houston blanked Los Angeles 3-0 and St. Louis split a pair with the Chicago Cubs, winning the opener 5-0 but losing the nightcap 6-1.
San Diego at San Francisco was rained out.
AT NEW YORK, WYLL Blackman lined an 0-2 pitch for a two-out, bases loaded double in the ninth inning that secured a victory for Gibbons with tying and winning runs.
At Pittsburgh, Tony Pena slammed a two-run home run, his second homer two games, and Bill Madlock had two hits. The Pirates six-game, losing streak
At Cincinnati, Jerry Royster hit a two-out single in the 10th inning to score Dale Murphy from second base. He then made an error by hitting the Reds their fifth straight loss.
AT CHICAGO. Joaquin Andujar pitched a five-hitter and David Green drove in three runs with a two-run homer and a single to spark the Cardinals to their fourth straight victory in the opener.
At Houston, Bob Knepper pitched a four-hitter and Ray Knight hit a two-run double to pace the Astros.