I Bahr: I imust I " ! jg It all began in very late April when Penn State an-j p: nounced that Walt Bahr would be replacing Herb Schmidtj g- as head soccer coach. Actually, the relationship betweenl Bahr and Penn State goes back further than 1974 much » further. P It dates back to the 1950 World Cup when Bahr played i? for the United States on a team coached by former Penn |$ State mentor Bill Jeffrey. "That has to be the greatest thrill I’ve ever had,” Bahr reminisced. "You know, since 1950 they haven’t reached & the finals." jj: The Fifties were good times for The 46-year-old :¥ former All-America and Olympian earned a berth on the J 5 '5O, '54 and .'5B squa'ds. Still, the ’5O World Cup stands ii- alone as one of the most memorable not only for Bahr, but Si lor England which lost 1-0 to the United States. V. | Tim Panaccio vi "I took a shot and Joe Gaetens headed the ball into the corner." Bahr remembered. “It was bedlam in S; Belohorzonti (Brazil). People couldn’t believe we beat ?■: England. ■£: "One of the relay stations sending the message around $: the world wouldn’t take it and kept sending it back for confirmation. He finally fainted when he realized what Si; had happened. >:• "There was a big upheaval in soccer after that game. £ England wanted to fire everybody because of that jS: defeat." i* The upheaval in international soccer progressed far 8 faster than that in the United States. Plus, Europe as a fit whole has made soccer (they call it football) its national ig sport and consequently, more people play it, g "This is the thing," Bahr argued. “Gp to any country g and they’H have two or three sports. But the major sport S-: is soccer and that's what the kids play first. ( £: : "We in the U.S. are very spread out. We have too many jg sports. Kids come to soccer sometimes because they can’t make it in any other sport. If we had kids who played £ soccer for hours a day, like they do with basketball, we S could compete with Europe.” S But playgrounds are more frequent than football fields I* and football and basketball still offer more opportunity ) money-wise. Another problem is time, t "Soccer Jis year round," Bahr said. “It’s not three § months. I'd like to see a 25 game schedule, like basket " ball. Look at gymnastics —it's year round!” lEven if the sport isn’t year round, it is growing in this country and at Penn State, soccer is a big draw. Especially with night games at Jeffrey Field. “On the positive sides of soccer, we have more junior and senior leagues and now the juvenile leagues ... There's a negative side, too. "One of the greatest shortcomings here (U.S.) is that players don’t see enough good soccer players to imitate and develop. If they did, they eould experiment and jg gradually make it a part of their style of play, g "I'v.e watched many teams and seen ajlot at the Cup 8 Games and I’d like to have my players adopt some things p. from these players. But I guess you’re limited to the A material you have and we still get good players." I Professionally speaking, the North American Soccer League has become the league to watch since its birth two years ago. It has an influx «f both American and European players and thf-bradd of soccer is different than that found on an American college team-. - § “The NASL is for the most part, being coaches by » English oriented coaches," Bahr noted. “They play a § very conservative game. They play a very conservative S game. They bypass the midfield with those long passes, jg "You have a lot of swerving balls and it gets down there fast right through the middle. Some teams, like the gi Italians, they play line to line, they’ll take 20 passes to go Si upfield. g: “However the better teams in soccer mix it up a bit. g They pass around and they shoot long ones downfield, too. fThis way. they can control the pace of the game.” The game that Penn State will be playing under Bahr is fe an interesting one. Players will work both offense and &: defense and even shift positions, much like Fred Shero did as with the Stanley Cup Champion Philadelphia Flyers last sj: season. K "You'll see them moving around out there. You know £§ what I say about players who play only one half of the |5. game they're passengers.” & On Walt Bahr’s ship, no “passengers” are allowed. Golf, iaX candidate meetings Candidates for the Penn State men’s golf team are asked to attend an organizational meeting in room 112 Rec Hall .today at 3:30. Anyone interested in trying Imitators be found out for the Penn State men’s lacrosse team should attend the meeting. Wednesday night, Sept. 11.: The meeting will start at 7:00 pSh. in’ room 112 Rec. Hall. Paterno's forecast: partly .'4 ' 4-: Showers possible for Stanford At this stage, without such aids as statistics and scores, football season it little more than opinion and guesswork. Here's a score of football opinion by Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. On Lion tailback Walt Addie “Addie’s got to do his thing; Cappy did his thing. I’m not worried about Addie, but I should have played him more last year. He might be mad at me.” “After I recruited last year’s! seniors I thought ‘God Almighty I don’t have anybody for the skilled positions.’ Then 10 went to the pros. We had so many veterans last.year we concentrated on depth. This year kfre’re just trving to get a starting team together.” On Lion quarterback Tom Shuman “If I didn’t have Shuman, I’d be crawling on my knees.” “I know Navy is going to be better. lowa has a new coach and everybody is back. Last year Maryland had the best personnel not the best team but the best personnel we saw all year. They had three or four kids we couldn’t handle. I know what some people say about the schedule, but everybody’s got a way of attacking the situation.” Vikings class of NFC central By THE AP “Our goal a year ago was to get into the Super Bowl and win it,” says Minnesota Coach Bud Grant. “We got into it, but we didn’t win it.” And that has been the major knock against the Vikings. They haven’t been able to win the big games. Bulletin DALLAS (AP) Un flappable Joe Gilliam, making a bid to unseat Terry Bradshaw as Pittsburgh’s No. 1 quarterback,-burned Dallas with two touchdown passes Thursday night to spur the Steelers to a 41-15 National Football League exhibition victory over the Cowboys. Their 24-7 loss to Miami in Super Bowl VIII last January was their second humiliating setback in the National Football League’s pqst season classic. The game wasn’t even as close as the scored the first two times they had the ball and the Vikings were completely demoralized and thorough ly beaten. In their other Super Bowl appearance, they were upset by the Kansas City Chiefs 23-7 four years ago. In other years, they have been beaten earlier in the playoffs. Still, their success within their -division now the National Football Conference" Central cannot be demeaned. - Last season, they won their division crown for the fifth time in six years, finishing with a 12-2 record, tying Miami and Los Angeles for the best regular-season record in the' entire NFL. They then beat Washington 27-20 in the opening round of the playoffs and whipped Dallas 27-10 for the NFC title, before being upended by the Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Now, says Grant, “We hope we’re as successful and get back into the Super Bowl.” ! 1 4 Connors, Newcombe reach finals FOREST 1 HILLS, N.Y. Tanner of Lookout Mountain, <AP) Jimmy Connors, the Tenn., and No. 2 Newcombe, court maverifk, and John the defender, against 39-year- Newcombe) a shotmaking old Ken Rosewall tomorrow howitzer from Australia, for the right to play for the thwarted aj threatened out- $23,000 first prize, break of upsets and smashed Tanner, 22, scored the day’s into the semifinals of the U.S. major upset when he Opeii Tennis Championships outgunned Stan Smith, seeded yesterday along with an No. 3 and co-ranked with ageless Australian and a hill Connors as America’s No. 1 boy from Tennessee. player, in a duel of thun dercap services 7-6,6-2,3-6,6- 1. Connors won a center court joust, of bacV. court strategy from Russia's Alex Metreveli So it will be the top-seeded Connors, reigning Wimbledon titleholder, against Roscoe sports By RICK STARR Sports Editor On last year’s team On the schedule The Vikings should have no trouble repeating as NFC Central champions, and another Super Bowl ap pearance could be forth coming. Detroit, under new Coach Rick Forzano, and' the Green Bay Packers likely will wage a strong battle for second place, but don’t yet appear to be of championship calibre, with the. Chicago Bears again last. The normally soft-spoken Grant speaks loudly about the chances of his team’retaining the divisional championship. “I’d say over-all our squad Women volley for finals berths today On the team returning out of shape • , “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. But it’s their football team.” On Lion tight end Dan Natale “(Former All-America Lion tight end) Ted Kwalick was a bigger man with bigger hands and made more spectacular catches, but Natale has caught the ball more consistently than anyone we’ve ever had. And they’re holding himj grabbing him every time he crosses the line. They know he’s on the field. ’ ’ On playing Lion freshman Jim Cefalo “I wouldn’t put that monkey on his back.” “Our defense is going to have to carry it for us in that game. Outside of some sloppy fumbling at Michigan and sloppy tackling at UCLA, Stanford played outstanding football the second half of the season.” On the season outlook “We don't have the kind of squad we’ve had. Nobody realizes yet what kind of team we have. We just have to be realistic, we don’t have the people who have played. This is the slowest team here since 1966, in the poorest condition. A lot of people think we’ll keep on winning because we’ve won before, but we’re not going to make a yard on what we did last year. And we have the least amount of time to prepare in a long time.” On his Penn State loyal mother 6 “My mother has been here three weeks and hasn't left church yet.” Minnesota Vikings On the Stanford game strength is the best it’s been' since I’ve been here,” says Grant; starting ' his eighth season at the Vikings’ helm. “Out strengths include depth, which is as good as I’ve seen here since I came.” Thel Vikings are fortified by veteirans at all positions, and will ;open the season without a rookie in the starting lineup. Only five rookies made the squadlast year. One was the sensational running back, Chufck| Foreman, who was named the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. He earned the honor by rushing for a club high 801 yards, finishing second oh the team in receptions with 37 catches and scoring six touchdowns. His running mates will in clude veterans Bill Brown, Dave Osborn and Oscar Reed I I 3- 6-31 6-4, 6-1. . Rose wall, who made his first appearance in the United States 22 years ago and won the first of his two American titles in 1956, won over the gifted ;20-year-old Indian, Vijay Amritraj 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6- 2. Newc’pmbe, once five pbints from elimination, rallied for a 4- 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 triumph over an inspired Arthur Ashe of Miami. Rosewall beat Smith in a marathon match this year at Wimbledon before advancing >V'I Ij; i and youngsters Ed Marinaro and Brent McClanahan. Quarterback Fran “The Scram” Tarkenton, who after 12 disappointing seasons finally shook the tag of “loser” and won his first championship of any kind last season, directs a diversified and unpredictable offense. Detroit Lions The tragic death of Coach Don McCafferty during training camp left the Lions a shaken team. McCafferty, known as to the final where he was virtually blown off the court by the 21-year-old Connors. The men are idle today while the women play for finalist berths. Top-seeded Chris Evert, the Wimbledon queen, will play Australia’s Evonne Goolagong and the old lady of the courts, second seeded Billie Jean King, will face unseeded Julie Heldman of Houston, who knocked her out of the tournament a year ago. cloudly, mild “Easy Eider” for his easy going attitude, was replaced by Forzano,- former head coach at JTavy and Con necticut, and a stern | disciplinarian. Since 1970, when the Lions rallied late in the season and gained a “wild card” playoff berth, their fortunes have declined steadily. Last season, they finished with a 6- 7-1 record, causing owner William Clay Ford to verbally j blast them for apparent in 'difference and lack of effort. Forzano blamed the dismal showing on too many dropped passes, too many intercepted passes and the ineffectiveness of veteran defensive end Larry Hand. “Larry didn’t have a good year last year and he knows it,” said Forzano. “If Larry comes back well, we’ll be improved defensively. I think when people are premier players like Larry, they’re not supposed to have average years.” A comeback by Hand would give the Lions a formidable defensive line, including Bob Bell, Herb Orvis and Jim Mitchell. Despite the retirement of Fiery middle linebacker Mike Lucci, the Lions are well fortified at linebacker. ' Green Bay Packers J The Packers, after winning the divisional title in 1972 with a 10-4 record, plunged to third place last season with a 4-8-2 mark, setting ioff months of soul-searching and self analysis during the offseason. Now, they are optimistic and confident of making a strong comeback. | Those feelings are based on several factors, including the team’s youth and potential, anticipated improvement at last year’s problem positions including quarterback %nd Standings of the clubs NATIONAL LEAGUE W L 73 63 72 65 67 70 63 71 61 73 55 79 West 85 51 .625 83 54 .606 77 61 .558 69 67 .507 62 75 .453 50 88 .362 Thursday's Game Philadelphia 6, Chicago 5,11 innings Only gamescheduled Friday’s Games Philadelphia at Chicago San Francisco at Atlanta, N Los Angeles at Cincinnati. N Montreal at Pittsburgh, N New York at St. Louis, N San Diego at Houston, N Pittsburgh St. Louis Philadelphia New York Montreal Chicago Los Angeles Cincinnati Atlanta Houston San Francisco San Diego Friday. September 6,1974—13 wide receiver, the expected return to form of the defense, and the recovery of kicker Chester Marcol. Marcol, one of the league’s premier kickers as a rookie two years ago, fell off in production last season be cause of a pulled groin muscle. The defense, which helped carry the club in 1972, also was decimated by in juries last season. The most serious was the broken leg suffered by eornerback Willie Buchanon. Injuries also plagued linemen. Clarence Williams and Mike McCoy. Now, Buchanon is back, as part of a tight-knit secondary with Ken Ellis, A 1 Matthews and Jim Hill. Williams and McCoy will team with Aaron Brown and Dave Pureifory up front, and the linebackers will be Jim Carter, Fred Carr and Ted Hendricks, who was acquired from Baltimore. Chicago Bears The raging debate over whether Bobby Douglass or Gary Huff should be the start ing quarterback, plus several other internal problems—all of which were existent last season—still are plaguing the discontented Bears. Unless they are settled quickly, the Bears, who finished 3-11 last season, ap pear headed for the same fate this year. Abe Gibron, the burly 300- pound coach, has a fondness for the left-handed Douglass, a big, strong, runner as his No. 1 signal-caller. Many Chicago fans have expressed a preference for Huff, a more orthodox quarterback. Whoever calls the signals, his runners will include Carl Garrett. Jim Harrison and Joe Moore, a respectable trio. AMERICAN LEAGUE ' Pet. .537 .526 489 .470 .455 .410 w -L Pet New York 72 63 .533 Boston 72 64 529 Baltimore 70 65 .519 Cleveland 67 67 .500 Milwaukee 65 72 474 Detroit 63 73 463 West Oakland 79 58 577 Texas 72 66 522 Kansas City 69 67 .507 Chicago 68 69 .496 Minnesota 67 70 .489 California 53 84 .387 Thursday's Results Milwaukee 4, Boston 3 Minnesota at Kansas City Texas at Oakland Chicago at California Other clubs not scheduled. Photob\ Jim Starr
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers