Page 14 University. Daily Kansan, December 5, 1980
Olympics, Brett top '80 stories
By KEVIN BERTELS
Sports Writer
Choosing the biggest sports event of 1880 should have been simple. Every four years the Olympic Games take place and they are automatically given the honor of being called the biggest sports event of the year.
But politics entered the scene when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and President Jimmy Carter decided that the United States could not compete with a nation that was making imperialistic moves.
Rather than the 1980 Moscow Olympics becoming one of the greatest sports spectacles of the year, they became the object of one of the most surprising political moves in decades. And instead of the Games being one of the biggest sport stories because of the athletic prowess displayed, they were noted because of the politics that ruined them.
A CLOSE SECOND for story of the year was the Olympic Games that were held in Lake Placid, N.Y. Not in recent history has there been such an outpouring of patriotism than that which followed the victory of the United States Olympic hockey team over the Soviet Union. It was matched by the enthusiasm shown when the U.S. team won the gold medal by beating Finland.
The crowd chanted "U.S.A., U.S.A." and millions watched television that Sunday morning as the U.S. team won the gold. Al Michaels, a sportscaster, shouted on the air, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" and was then silent as the crowd told the story and players celebrated on the ice.
That same week Eric Heiden won five speed skating gold medals and the 100-meter sprint.
BUT MANY CRIED for Randy Gardner and his figure skating partner, Tai Babilonia, the favorites in the couples event. The duo was forced to compete in the competition when Gardner pulled a muscle and was unable to skate.
These were major stories on the national level, but no story was bigger in the Midwest than the Kansas City game, their third baseman, George Brett.
The baseball season began with threats of a player's strike and the absence of Darrell Porter, the Royals' All-Star catcher, who was receiving treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction.
The season ended with Brett batting .300 and the Royals as the losers in the World Series. In between were a run at the magic .400 average by Brett, Porter's return and a dramatic three-game sweep of the hated New York Yankees in the American League Plavoffs.
BRETT'S RUN AT .400 caught the public eye, but nothing he did got as much attention as a problem that emerged during the Series.
The masses giggled, but it was serious. In the game game with the others, you wielded against the others.
"My problem is all behind me now!"
Brett拍 before a national television
Two stories rocked KU fans. The happy story was the Jayhawk football team. The addition of Kerwin Bell, one of the most highly recruited running backs of the year, turned the Jayhawks into a bowl candidate. Bell gained 1,114 yards, a KU and Big Eight record for a freshman.
A 4-2 record nearly got KU a Peach Bowl bid, but a final-game loss to Missouri got KU the pit. Another game in which KU lost, School in Huntington Beach, Calif., was Frank Seurer, the starting quarterback in the Missouri game.
THE BAD NEWS in KU sports was the discovery that some KU basketball players had used an assistant coach's credit card to make personal telephone calls. A team of sophomore guard Ricky Ross to his girlFriend. When the news hit the
streets, so did Ross. He quit the team, citing personal reasons.
that same day, sophomore center Kelly Knight injured a knee in practice and Kansas was left with only nine players. Seven, of whom had game experience.
That was the beginning of a new season. At the end of the 1979-80 season, the controversy was at least as prevalent. KU had finished with a 15-14 record and rumor had it that KU Head Coach Ted Owens was either going to be fired or take a job at the University of Oklahoma.
A vote of confidence from the KU athletic department followed and Owens was back at the KU helm for the next season.
OTHER BIG STORIES in 1980 sports were:
Jack Nicklaus winning two major golf titles extended his record number of majors to 19. He won the U.S. Open at Oak Hills and the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Bill Rogers winning his third Boston Marathon. The winner of the women's portion of the meet was debatable, however, Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line first, but none of the other competitors had seen her in any part of the race. She was stripped of her title and has not been heard from since.
Also there were the sad stories of 1980. Some were:
The retirement of such players as Jo White, KU All-American and Boston Celtics All-Pro basketball player; Sadaharu Oh, Japan's record-setting home run hitter; Gordie Hewan, the dean of professional hockey players at 51; Roger Staubach, the quarterback for 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys.
Muhammad Ali fighting and losing to Larry Holmes. He attributed his loss to the excessive use of drugs to lose weight, and he recommended that he would train to fight again.
LAST WEEK, Joe Cipriano, the head coach of New York City, died after a long battle with cancer.
Sports were given a lifetime fix in 1980. On Sept. 1, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) first broadcast 24 consecutive hours of sports, the only all-sports network ever.
1980 was a year in sports saved by the performances of the U.S. Olympic hockey team and the Kansas City Royals, a year nearly ruined by the mixture of politics and the Olympics. There was the potential to be the best sports year ever, had the Moscow Olympics finally proving that sports could unite the world. But sadly instead, 1980 was an average year and proved that sports could be used as a wedge to widen the gap between East and West.
UPI honors KU's Gardner
KU nose guard Stan Gardner was named to the second team All-America squad yesterday, by United Press International.
A similar selection released by the Associated Press earlier this week awarded Gardner honorable mention. Freshman Kerwin Bell received honorable mention on the same team, while All-Big Eight flanker David Verser was the second team receiver on the AP team.
Neither Verser or Bell received mention on the UPI team.
Gardner came to Kansas two years ago from the College of the Canyons in Valencia, Calif., where he earned all-conference honors twice and was a junior college All-American his sophomore year.
SAN DIEGO STATE is expected to announce its new coach Monday, the earliest day that federal affirmative action guidelines will allow. The finalists were to be interviewed today, today, tomorrow and Sunday.
The San Diego State job recently opened when Claude Gilbert, the sixth winning active coach in the country, was fired after a 4-8 season. Hadi said Nov. 19, 20 days after the firing, that he was not interested. "No way," he said then. "I'm not at all interested."
For admissions or registration information contact the W.S.U. Administration of Justice program at K.U.
A. A., B.S., M.A.J. Degree programs in A.J. offered by Wichita State University at K.U.
For schedule of Administration of Justice classes consult the K.U. supplement to the Timetable.
After Gilbert was fired, the athletic department called for an open search. Applicants were given the option of having their name registered in the job applicants had their names released and Hadl was not one of them.
Telephone 913-384-0055 or room 4C old Green Hall 864-4758.
Hadi spent 11 seasons as the quarterback for the NFL's San Diego Chargers. He had been an All-America running back at KU in 1964 and the KU quarterback in 1961. He joined the KU coaching staff in 1978.
Degree Programs in Administration of Justice at K.U.
ALSO ON THE LIST of finalists are Doug Scovill, offensive coordinator at Brigham Young; Fred Whitlingham, defensive coordinator at Brigham Young; and Jed Hughes, defensive coordinator at UCLA. The identity of the fifth candidate is not known,
Hadi, reportedly, had not become interested in the job until the screening committee asked to see him.
"I think you'll find that if he has a possibility of moving up, there isn't a head coach that would hold a coach back," Wilson said. "I would think you have the most popular candidate. He's well-known and well-liked in that area."
Hadi, who said two weeks ago that he was not interested in the position, met with the screening committee for two hours yesterday in San Diego. After that meeting, he met with the athletic director, Gene Burdett.
Neither KU Athletic Director Bob Marcum nor head Coach Don Fambrighere were available for comment last night, but Sid Wilson, sports information director, said that they knew of Hadi's interview.
"The San Diego State people called him and asked if he'd like to come in for an interview," Wilson said. "It's through the knowledge of Coach Fambrough and Bob Marcum. There's no subterfuge involved. Really, he's out there recruiting."
Hadi has been in San Diego since Tuesday on a recruiting trip with Don McLeary, KU receiver coach. Hadl confirmed last night that he had met with the screening committee and was used to comment on anything else.
McLeary, were recruiting junior college players who could enroll at KU in January. He said both were scheduled to return Tuesday.
John Hadi, KU offensive coordinator, is one of five finalists for the head coaching position at San Diego State.
WILSON SAID that Hadl and
Hadl 1 of 5 finalists for San Diego job
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Sports Editor
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