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Savage on sports
By BILL SAVAGE
Managing Editor
Every four years since 1972, I’ve been interested in
collecting a lot of the...well...junk that various compa-
nies sell or give away in conjunction with the
Olympics.
The 1984 Summer Games are just a few weeks
away, but they, probably along with future Olympics,
have been severely damaged by political matters, this
time a Communist boycott. Maybe we soon won’t have
any Olympics, so it dawned on me that if that ever
happens, the various things I have collected since 72
might be worth something - if not monetarily, at least
historically, in that each Olympiad since that time has
been marked by some political distractions.
The 1972 games of course, were tainted by the
terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes and the
subsequent death of those athletes. That year, Coca
Cola was offering a series of coins commemorating
the great Olympic performances from 1896 to 1968.
They were available in aluminum, silver and gold -
provided you sent in a suitable number of ring tabs or
bottle caps or whatever.
~ Being an impoverished student, I opted for the
aluminum. I’ll never forget the fact that I got the
medals in the mail just as I was getting ready to go to
a funeral parlor to see a cousin of mine who had
dropped dead at the age of 12 - a kind of eerie portent
of the Olympic terrorist incident.
To this day, I still get mail from the U.S. Olympic
Committee asking me for contributions, since I have
contributed to the U.S. Olympic effort in the past. That
past “contribution” consisted of the money I paid for
the medals - all of two dollars.
Today, the medals sit in a drawer. For about two
years, the 1960 medal (there’s one medal per Olym-
piad) featuring Wilma Rudolph was lost, but it turned
up around 1980 and I now have the complete set. Were
they gold I wonder what they would be worth.
In 1976, Brim coffee began the year by offering a
book that promised to chronicle the history of the
Olympics and provide previews and scoresheets for
the 1976 winter and summer game. I sent for one, and
many other people I knew did as well, for the book
was extremely interesting despite its tiny size. It
allowed me to chronicle the medal winners in certain
events and I never watched the Olympics more on TV
than I did in 1976.
Also that year, Brim sold a set of drawings depicting
Olympic athletes. I still have them and would to frame
them someday. Wrigley gum offered key chains
depicting the various events in the Montreal Summer
Olympics and I got three. For awhile this year, I was
still using one of them, and people who know me
assume I bought it in Montreal when I was last there.
Had we not boycotted the 1980 Summer Games,
there undoubtedly would have been much merchandise
available that year, but there was very little as it
turned out. I did get a Lake Placid Winter Games t-
shirt, which I still have, and last year bought the ABC
Video “Miracle of Lake Placid,” which chronicles the
events of that Olympics.
When this year began to roll around, I decided to
keep close tabs on the offers available. At first, I
wanted to see what would be available on the Sarajevo
Winter Games and Campbell Soup had lots of items.
They had pins depicting individual events, a soup bowl
with the Campbell Kids, and other things with the Kids
skating, skiing or playing hockey.
Back when I was young, I, like most kids, had some
favorite spoons, bowls and the like. My favorite spoon
was of a cartoon character I won’t mention, but I also
had two Campbell Kids spoons. The thought of getting
Olympic oriented merchandise with these chubby-
cheeked twins on it was intriguing. But, alas, Camp-
bell pulled a fast one. The company said that to get
any of its Olympic merchandise one had to send in
‘“‘specially-marked” labels. You know what thatr
means. The labels on the 10 Campbell cans we had at
home weren’t good enough - I was supposed to go buy
special “Olympic” soup. I decided to pass on the Kids.
Then McDonald’s announced it was selling Olympic
coffee cups. This was great news for a 10-cup a day
man, but one can’t make it to McDonald’s every week.
I only got two of the four available.
However, one should never lose faith in one of the
world’s largest corporations. McDonald’s recently
started selling the cups again.
I and my company probably give Eastman Kodak
hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars of business
per year. So I was happy to see that company come up
with some Olympic promotions. First, they too, are
offering pins. They aren’t the nicest looking things in
the world, however.
On the other hand, I almost flipped when I saw
Kodak’s other offer. For a few proofs of purchase, not
only does one get a free roll of film, but also a poster
featuring Edwin Moses, Alberto Salazar and my
favorite female athlete in the world, Mary Decker. 8
Alas, Kodak is pulling the ‘‘specially-marked’’ thing
too. After smiling gleefully over the two packages I
had in my posession before I saw the ads for the
promotion, I read the fine print and realized I might
as well throw the boxes away. Kodak too is selling
special “Olympic” packages. It may be a long time
before I get my poster.
I’ve made one other Olympic purchase this year.
About three months ago, I sent in my order for the
official Olympic program from L.A. It costs $10, and I
still haven’t gotten it.
I wonder about the Olympic program. I hope it
doesn’t include information that is not accurate thanks
to the boycott. I don’t want to show future generations
a program that isn’t a true indication of what the
games were really like.
Now, I’m not so sure. Maybe all my ‘junk’ isn’t
Olympic after all. Maybe we haven’t had a ‘real’
Olympics since 1968. Maybe we shouldn’t ever have an
Olympics of any kind ever again.
By LEE L. RICHARDS
Sports Columnist
The PGA Tour hasn’t been a bed
or roses for Andy North, the 1978
U.S. Open champion. In fact, 78
was his best in the terms of money
with winnings of $150, 398. In 1983,
he managed to win a little over
$52,000.
During his recent visit to Irem
Temple Country Club for an exhibi-
tion and friendly round with United
Penn :
Bank folks we got
a chance to chat
with Andy, whom
we met last year
‘during his visit
here.
While we
wanted to discuss | ,
golf in general, S-
Andy wanted to talk about the
upcoming football season. He’s a
college football fan and is a big
backer of the University of Wiscon-
sin, despite being a Florida grad.
“I haven’t been playing very well
lately for a combination of rea-
sons,” he said. “I had a back
operation which limited the amount
of practice this spring, but I feel
pretty good now and I’m anxious to
play well again.”
~ North is going to be competing in
a number of tournaments the
remainder of the season.
“I’m looking forward to playing
at Kingsmill (Busch Golf Classic) at
Williamsburg. I like the golf course
and always have a good time down
there. The people run a class opera-
tion and do a lot of things to make
the players want to play there,” he
pointed out.
During the recent Open champion-
ship, andy got off to a pretty good
start in the first round, but faltered
in the second round and missed the
He says, “Winged Foot is one of
the greatest golf courses around.
It’s a true test of golf for a U.S.
Open. The USGA had the course
ing all of the shots. It was a very
fair layout. I'd like to see more
opens there or on that caliber of
course,” said North.
When he laid claim to his U.S.
Open crown, the tournament was
played at the difficult Cherry Hills
Country Club at Denver.
Andy needs only a couple of
strong showings or top 10 finishes to
crack the million dollar mark in
career earnings. However, money is
one item he never mentions.
“Success in anything is a matter
of timing. The caliber of competi-
tion is so outstanding on tour today,
compared to when I came out (1973)
that many of the really good players
still haven't won. When their time
comes they will win. There’s So
many quality players out there
today that no-one is really going to
dominate play like the Palmers,
Nicklaus and Trevinos did during
the ’70s,”” he points out.
Andy recently broke his drive
which he’s played with for the last
10 years. To the average player it
might not mean too much, but to
player of his caliber it’s like a new
marriage.
“While I joked about finding a
new driver, I was serious about
finding one that I'm comfortable
with and know I can consistently
put the ball in the fairway. I must
have tried to play with at least a
dozen and I finally feel more confi-
dent with this one,” said North.
While some cited motivation as a
reason for his ordinary play, Andy
claims that wasn’t very accurate.
He says timing and getting in the
right mental groove are the keys to
his performing up to his standards.
He has the ability and I'm hoping he
shoots lights out at the Busch Clas-
sic and he finds the winner’s circle
come July 15th.
CLIPBOARD NOTES: North and
Irem Pro Barry Fies played a round
of golf after the clinic. North carded
an easy 67, five-under, while Fies
shot one under.
“Andy has a remarkable swing,”
says Fies. ‘He made some shots
and did somethings with the golf
ball I didn’t believe was possible
here at Irem. In fact, he backed the
ball up on some holes from some
very tough lies which I didn’t
believe could be done. He likes to
DISCOUNT POOL STORE
sy DICK MACKEY
Route 6 & 11 (Next to Raves)
in Chinchilla
SALE ENDS
POSITIVELY AT
8 P.M., THURS,
JULY 5, 1984.
_ACT NOW AND
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Comparing notes
Dallas Post/Ed Campbell
putt on greens that are slow. Once
he got the feel, he was knocking
putts in from all over.”
Fies said he had an enjoyable
time with the former Open champ.
I was sorry to learn of the passing
of former GAR and Meyers assist-
ant grid coach Hayden White. He
and I had been friends for a long
time. He lived on the same street as
Hockey exams
set for July 5
Field hockey physicals for Lake-
Lehman girls in seventh through
12th grades will be conducted on
Thursday, July 5, from 9 a.m. to
noon at the high school nurses
office.
Physical examination permission
slips may be picked up at the high
school office.
Anyone with questions should call
either Rodger Bearde or Jean
Lipski at the high school.
I do. Our sons were always the best
of freinds, and played for Meyers in
1981 when the Mohawks copped the
Division 2 title.
Hayden has always been wrapped
up in football. He learned a lot
about the game. His forte was in
knowing how ‘to handle the players
and get the most out of them.
I'm going to miss him.
Back Mountain Junior Football
final registration and physicals on
Saturday, July 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. at
the Kingston Township Municipal
Building.
Activities offered
The Lake-Lehman Summer Rec-
reation Program will offer activities
at the Lake-Noxen Elementary
School during the week of July 9 - 13
from 9 a.m. to noon each day.
Mrs. Jean Lipski will coordinate
various activities for both boys and
girls from grades first through 12
and an elementary wrestling clinic
for boys within the school district in
Football players must be between
the ages of 7 and 13; Cheerleaders
between the ages.of 9 and 13. All
pre-registered players should report
for physicals at this time.
at Lake-Noxen
grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be con-
ducted by Ed Ladamus, head wres-
tling coach at Lake-Lehman High
School, and Dwight Barbacci,
assistant wrestling coach at Lake-
Lehman High School.
Anyone requesting additional
information, may call Rodger
Bearde at Lake-Lehman High
School at 675-2165.
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