6
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, October 25, 1968
Troubled Olympics still No.1 in sports
By LUIS F. SANTOS
Kansas Sports Writer
It all ends tomorrow-years of anticapitation, preparation and worrying. And it will all probably start again soon, before the gold is enjoyed or the losses suffered, in looking to 1972.
The Mexicans will start cleaning, the athletes packing and whoever gets the site for '72 preparing. But these past two weeks demonstrated the greatness of the world Olympiads.
The U.S. basketball team, despite what everybody said, will probably defeat Yugoslavia tonight and remain undefeated in Olympic competition. It's difficult to see how anybody could have expected them to lose.
While in the U.S., kids are practically born with basketballs, they are comparatively scarce in Brazil, Russia, and almost every other country. Years of playing together and preparation will never make up for the exposure Americans have to basketball, and that basketball is American.
So Jim Ryun was human after all he could lose. Ryun's grin after finishing second in the 1,500-meter final did not hide his disappointment, nor did it hide his pleasure that it was all over. Kipchoge Keino, Kenya's tireless star, ran such an amazing race that Ryun's silver medal finish cannot be called disappointing.
Altitude proved it couldn't be overcome by a few weeks visit to the mountaintops. Those who lived high (such as the Kenyans) never stopped running, while those poor sea level creatures involved in long distance races choked, gasped, and fell. Australian sentimental favorite, Ron Clarke, holder of 17 world records but not one gold medal, took a 10-minute knockout by the altitude.
The United States' performance in track and field was certainly impressive. Though the Americans took their tolls in the longer distances, they certainly kept statisticians busy re-writing records.
Discus thrower Al Oerter and pole vaulter Bob Seagran proved their supremacy in those sports. Bob Beamon's 29' $2\frac{1}{2}$" long jump almost surpassed the limits of the believable, and Dick Fosbury's "flop" in the high jump is not only the world's best, but also entertaining to watch—if not challenging to try.
American sprinters felt more at home than anybody else, practically competing among themselves for the medals. That is, when they didn't take all three.
Harriers to triangular
The KU cross country team returns to Stillwater, Okla. in search of its fourth consecutive victory. They will compete in the KU-OU-OSU Triangular, tomorrow.
Stillwater was the site of the Hawks opening meet where they placed first in the Oklahoma State Jamboree. The other victories posted by the Jayhawk harriers have been at the Southern Illinois meet and the KU Invitational.
Individually, the freshmen have come on strong for the KU squad. Rich Elliot, Oak Park, Ill., ran second in both the OSU Jamboree and the Southern Illinois meet. Last Saturday, Doug Smith gave KU its first individual victory in the KU Invitational.
Not only the sprinters dominated their field. The young American swimmers collected gold medals, though not as many as the experts expected, with about the same ease.
John Carlos and Tommie Smith's demonstration may have been out of place, but not unjustified. Unjustified, however, was the stern action taken against them. When politics, whether wanted or not, are evident all over the Olympics, the IOC's reason for censure—that politics should not be permitted to permeate the Games—becomes insignificant, at least for the strong reprimand they recommended.
South Africa is not permitted to participate in its apartheid policies; Czechs and Russians do not speak to each other; Cubans defect and Cubans take every opportunity to attack the U.S.; ABC's sports broadcasters specifically point out the competition occurring between the Czechs and East Germans in gymnastics—that they are competing next to each other and aren't speaking; and everybody is disappointed because the U.S. cagers won't meet Russia in the basketball finals; if this doesn't have political overtones what does?
No doubt being in Mexico City was "it," but watching the Olympics on TV had to be second best, if not more comfortable in many cases. Unfortunately local channels decided local news couldn't wait, or that an old movie had to be watched, and we missed some fine performances.
ABC's coverage has certainly been superb, except perhaps for the over-coverage of sports in which Americans excelled, depriving their audiences of seeing the world's best in many other sports.
Amateurism, that constant nightmare of Olympic organizers, has again crawled into the scene. The IOC is investigating
supposed payoffs to athletes by sports firms for the use of their items (sounds familiar).
The amateur status is such a doubtrful characteristic of the Olympics, and so difficult to
prove or disprove, that perhaps an "open" Olympic games is the only solution—and surely the best.
But whatever the misgivings or shortcomings of the Games, they
still remain the sports haven for competitors and fans alike.
And in the Games all men truly become equal, and only the best win. That's what makes them so great.
Folk,rock jazz groups... we're lending you our ears!
ENTER THE 1969 INTERCOLLEGIATE MUSIC FESTIVAL
If your group sings, picks, strums, claps—or makes any
kind of good sound, sign up now for the national competition...co-sponsored by the brewers of Budweiser, King of Beers..
REGIONALS: Mobile, Alabama; Villanova, Pennsylvania;
Norwalk, California; Elmhurst, Illinois; Little Rock, Arkansas; Salt Lake City, Utah. FINALS: St. Louis Missouri, May 22-24
WRITE: I. M. F., Box 1275, Leesburg, Florida 32748
ANHEUSER-BUSCH, INC. • ST. LOUIS • NEWARK • LOS ANGELES • TAMPA • HOUSTON • COLUMBUS
There's no one quite like her . . . she's beautiful . . .
exciting . . . and best of all, she's yours. Give her
something wonderful from Tivol . . . a diamond that is
just her . . . from Tivol, of course.
TIVOL of course
220 Nichols Road • Kansas City, Missouri • WE 1-5333