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Feeling A Draft
By Darrell Reider
It's hard to think about professional
football at this time of year, but the NFL
draft was conducted Tuesday and Wed
nesday. It's annually a time when the
collegiate athletes let their four-year
careers speak for themselves, as they
hope to earn a spot on a roster of one of
the NFL's 28 teams. There are many
disheartened guys right now who had
hoped to hear their name called out by
Commissioner Pete Rozelle but were not
chosen. The only alternative they have
left is to work hard at the spring camp
for non-roster players, to give them
selves at least a slim chance to be pro
football players. The sad thing is that
these athletes don't see dollar signs
loading a multi-million dollar contract--
they just want to play football at any
price.
Those fortunate 332 college stars
who were selected at the 1981 draft will
go on to display their talents in the
upcoming NFL season. As usual, there
were many surprises in the early rounds,
with the real shocker courtesy of the
Minnesota Vikings. Presumably, the
Vikes did not need any great first-round
talent, so they traded their valuable 18th
selection overall to the Baltimore Colts
for two second round choices. True, the
Purple Machine won the Central Divi
sion of the NFC last season, but their
record wasn't too encouraging, barely
over .500. So the Colts and the defend
ing Super Bowl champion Oakland Raid
ers were the only teams to have two
selections each among the first 28 picks
on Tuesday.
The first three picks in the first
round took less than one-tenth of the
allotted time. The New Orleans Aints, as
expected, grabbed Reisman Trophy
winner George Rogers from South Caro
lina, the New York Giants picked line
backer Lawrence Taylor from North
Carolina, and their cross-town rivals, the
New York Jets, (remember, they were
Jimmy the Greek's predicted Super
Bowl champs!) sucked up UCLA running
back Freeman McNeil.
Speaking of the Jets, they followed
their annual path of choosing players at
positions where they are not needed.
Their firsi two picks were running backs,
and, to say the least, the partisan Jet
crowd was upset. Chants of "Goodbye
Walter" (referring to Coach Walt
Michaels) echoed through the converted
pool facility at the Sheraton Hotel in the
Big Apple. It took the Jets three rounds
until they decided to strengthen their
atrocious defense, after most of the
highly scouted talent had already been
chosen. I hope "The Greek" predicts
someone else to capture the 1981 crown.
Our Nittany Lions did not do that
badly in the draft this year. Fullback
Booker Moore shuffled of to the Buffalo
Bills as the last choice of the first round.
He should complement last year's rookie
phenom Joe Cribbs. Guard Bill Dugan
was the 58th pick overall in the draft,
and the second pick in the third round,
when the Seattle Seahawks landed him.
The other two Lions chosen in the
preliminary draft were Pete Kugler,
now a Sad Francisco 49er, and Larry
Kubin, acquired by the Washington
Dedskins. Earlier last week, Kubin
elected to spend next year at University
Park as a Nittany Lion after being
declared a fifth-year senior. Kubin was
injured in the third game last season and
was considered a red-shirt by the
NCAA, thus making him eligible for
another season at Happy Valley. That
sure is good news for Joe Paterno's
defensive squad!
Capitolizing on Sports
The school with the best draft turn
out in the first six rounds was the
University of Pittsburgh, which had 12
seniors selected. The North Carolina Tar
Heels and the Ohio State Buckeyes each
had five players join the 'professional
ranks through the draft this year.
The team which probably had the
best draft was the New Orleans Aints,
under the guidance of new coach O.A.
"bum" Phillips. New Orleans had 18
players chosen in the first 12 rounds,
many of whom were early-round selec
tions. A few players lasted longer than
expected--even past the 60th pick over
all--including record-setting quarterback
Mark Herrmann of Purdue, who was
taken by the Denver Broncos, and
running back "Famous" Amos Lawrence
of North Carolina, selected by the Sad
Diego Chargers.
Since the attention has been on
professional football for the past few
weeks, next week we'll look in-depth at
the upcoming Nittany Lion football
season, as Coach Joe Paterno looks
forward to another winner. This season,
however, that is easier said than done.
Semi-Sweet
By Yvonne Harhigh
The Hershey Bears and Adirondack
Red Wings split the first two games of
their American Hockey League Calder
Cup semi-final series last week in Her
shey.
The Bears won the first game 9-5, but
only after watching the Red Wings erase
a 4-0 Hershey lead.
Hershey jumped ahead early, scoring
four goals in less than five minutes of the
first period. Tallies came from Don
Howse, Darren Veitch, Mark Lofthouse,
and Tony Cassolato, the leading scorer in
the playoffs.
In the second period, the Red Wings
surprised the confident Bears, tying the
score at four. Jody Gage scored just
seconds into the period, with Carmine
Cirella, Tom Bladon, and Greg Joly
adding later goals.
Awakened by the Red Wing attack,
the Bears burst into the final period on a
goal by Harvey Pocza. Later, Peter
Marrin and Lou Franceschetti each fired
one in, and Lofthouse added his second
of the night. Marrin unleashed one more
goal to end Hershey's scoring.
The Red Wings' last breath came
when Dan Bolduc blew one past Bears'
goalie Rollie Boutin.
Saturday night, the Wings got re
venge, winning 5-4 and ending Hershey's
15-game unbeaten streak.
The Bears' rookie defenseman Dar
ren Veitch started the string of back and
forth scoring with a goal in the first
period. Adirondack's Dennis Polonich
matched it, and Tony Cassolato put the
Bears back on top before the period
ended.
Jody Gage tied the game at two with
a power play goal early in the second
stanza. The period ended in a 3-3 tie, as
Veitch and Polonich again exchanged
goals.
Harvey Pocza put the Bears ahead
for the last time in the third period,
deflecting a drive from Veitch. Two
minutes later, Ted Nolan evened it at
four, and then Adirondack's Rejean
Cloutier got his first goal of the playoffs--
the one to which the Bears had no
answer.
After two games at Adirondack, the
series returns to the Hersheypark Arena
Saturday night.
Thursday, April 30,1981
F•st Start For Martin & Co
AM-A's-ING
By Kevin Spiegel
The word around campus is "Billy
Ball, Billy Ball!" Can you believe those
Oakland A's and Billy Martin? They are
playing such good baseball that they are
re-writing the record book. Names such
as Norris, Kingman, Langford, McCatty,
and Keough make up the A's starting
pitching rotation (they are not President
Reagan's White House staff). Names like
Henderson, Revering, Armas, and
Murphy are just a few of the guys who
supply the hitting, speed, and power for
Martin. Oakland is doing so well that
they even have a second baseman named
Shooty Babbitt. (He even starts for
them! Now you know you're in trouble.)
Just a bit of a reminder: last year the A's
finished in second place because of a poor
start. Maybe I will change my pre-season
prediction. I picked the Kansas City
Royals, who are presently in last place,
to finish first.
In the NHL, it's the Islanders, Ran
gers, North Stars, and Flames. Those
four have advanced to the semi-finals.
The Rangers surprised the St. Louis
Blues in six games. 00-LA-LA Ron
Duguay led New York, along with the
Swede, Anders Hedberg. Once again,
the Rangers advanced behind outstand
ing goaltending. Rookie Steve Baker
continued to amaze this writer, along
with other members of the media. As for
the Isles, what more can you say about
this explosion that hasn't been said
already? But, the Gretzky Oilers did
take the Long Islanders to six games,
two more than I expected. I hope the
Islanders are tired and have forgotten
how to skate. (Guess who I am rooting
for.) For the Rangers to win, their power
play must be effective.
As for the other series, it will not
have the Flyers in it. Yes, the Flames
went into the Spectrum on Sunday night
and surprised the Flyers 4-1. So now the
Flames will face the Minnesota North
Stars. The Stars have a playoff record of
7-1, and their only loss came in overtime.
They manhandled the Buffalo Sabres,
just ask Fleet Becker and Marty Lin
denberg. The Stars were led by their
rookie goalie Don Beaupre and Olympic
hero Steve Christoff. The Flames match
their goalie, Paul Riggin, with the Stars'
netminder shot for shot. As for scoring,
Kent Nillson heads a fine Calgary attack.
You can say what you want about the
Flames' goalie, but he did handle the
Flyers single-handedly. He has a quick
left hand, and is tough in the clutch. Ask
any Flyer fan. The only chance that I had
to see Beaupre was during this year's
All-Star game. He is only 19 years old,
and lightning fast. He doesn't give up
any rebounds, which is important in
goaltending. My prediction for the NHL
finals is, even though my heart is with
the Rangers, the Isles vs. the North
Stars.
A comment about the NBA playoff
setup. The Sixers and Celtics are the two
best teams in the NBA, no one will argue
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with that. If all the hockey teams are
thrown into one group for total points,
why can't basketball have its system
based on percentages? If the final four
(Celtics, Sixers, Kings, and Rockets)
were to meet according to my system,
then it would match the Celtics vs. the
Rockets and the Sixers vs. the Kings.
The two winners would then meet for
the league championship.
During this past weekend, basketball
fans found out that Ralph Sampson of
the Virginia Cavaliers is going to stay in
college at least one more year. Specula
tion was that the 7'4" center would skip
his last two years of college and make
himself eligible for the June NBA draft.
The only thing that I have to say is
Hooray! As for Mark Aguirre of DePaul
and Isiah Thomas of Indiana, they will go
hardship and join the biggies in the
NBA. Thomas has a good excuse for
going into the NBA. His family is
suffering economically, and Isiah will be
able to support them on his million-dollar
contract. As for Aguirre, when the
DePaul dream team was eliminated, he
felt nothing else was laft for him in
college. I'm going to school for four
years, why can't he? - I guess money does
talk.
My intramural bowling team fell once
again. This time we were beaten by the
Prowlers. My team, the Strat-O-Matics,
has been beaten badly in the last two
weeks. Two weeks ago, we were beaten
by the 11th Framers, but that's not the
half of it. You know things are going bad
when the editor of the C.C. Reader beats
you. I'm talking about the honorable
Harold Moyer. If he would have just
bowled his average, we might have .split
the series. But n 00000! Sir Harold bowls
out of his ##ss l / 2 1 / 2 ". Thanks, Harry! He
just wanted some free promotion. Then
last week, we faced the Prowlers, and
were destroyed by Colleen Pfleger. First
Harry, then Colleen. Only Earl Anthony
awaits the Strat-O-Matics. We are def
initely due for a turnaround. With Ed
McDonald, Fleet (201) Becker, our pret
tiest teammate Tish Whalen (who is the
only one to bowl over her average every
week), and Darrell (Thunder) Reider, we
hope to surprise a few teams. Just ask
the captain and president of the WSDC
team. He also wanted some free promo
tion. Poor Joe, he doesn't even let his
girlfriend bowl on the team. I would talk
to him, Joan!
Until next issue, let's go Mets and
Rangers.
Sports Quiz _
In 1978, the Boston Red Sox and New
York Yankees finished in a tie for first
place. They had a playoff game, and it
became the first of its kind. If you're up
on your baseball, can you tell me who
made the last out in that game? Hint: He
still plays today.
Answer next week.
C.C. Reader