Page 12
orting View
Penguins' old
problems continue
with new coach
by John Musser
Collegian Sports Editor
I know that this is a busy
week for everyone, with
professors administering
incredibly long midterms and
laying mounds of homework
on helpless students. But I've
decided to do it anyway, and for
the second week in a row, I'm
going to start with a question.
The question is: Cale
Yarborough was the last driver
to win the Daytona 500 in
consecutive years (1983-’B4).
Who was the last driver before
Yarborough to take the
checkered flag back-to-back at
Daytona? Answer to follow.
Say, do you think Pete
Rose bet on the Super Bowl?
Holy-Bonehead-dept.: Last
week I said something about
how I thought that Pierre
Turgeon should receive the
award for best rookie in the
National Hockey League. In
fact, I said that they could bum
the Calder Trophy, the name
for the best freshman award.
There’s one problem: Turgeon,
who plays for the Buffalo
Sabres, ain't no rookie.
So far, only a friend of our
overworked, stressed out editor
has caught my dunderhead
error. I certainly hope the half
dozen or so faithful who read
this column whenever it finds
its way into the paper are
paying attention.
I've been having trouble
lately discerning certain things,
such as winter from spring,
sleep from class, and the NBA
from the NHL. Its not like
there haven't been quasi-riots in
any basketball games lately.
Actually, basketball in
general has been increasingly
violent lately on both the
college and professional levels.
I find this somewhat
disconcerting because of the
rioting that has happened in
European soccer games. Not
only have games in America
been increasingly violent on
the players' part, but fans are
also starting to take part in the
barbarism.
What ever happened to just
having a good time at the
game?
Wouldn't ya know it. I
mentioned Mario Lemieux's
scoring streak in these very
pages last Wednesday, and the
streak ended that evening
against the New York Rangers.
Am I a jinx or what?
Speaking of Lemieux, he
and his fellow Pittsburgh
Penguins' teammates have done
very little to improve
themselves in the NHL since
the firing of Coach Gene
Übriaco.
When management fired
Übriaco, the Pens ranked 18 th
in the league. Now, under the
guidance of General Manager
Craig Patrick, who is serving
as interim coach, the flightless
waterfowl arc a mighty 13th.
To the casual observer, it
would appear that the Penguins
have made an improvement
since the Übriaco firing. Not
great improvement, but still an
improvement. However, a
careful investigation shows
that this isn't necessarily so.
At the time of Übriaco's
termination, the Pens had a
record of 10-14-2. Heading into
last night's tilt with the
Philadelphia Flyers, their mark
was 27-28-5. They're not a
whole heck of a lot better in
the win-loss-lie column.
In goals for and goals
against, the Penguins had 101
and 110, respectively. Now,
the "Boys of Winter" have
scored 252 goals and have let
in 270. Their goal differential
went from nine to 18, which is
definitely not an improvement.
So, who do you blame
now? Don't ask the players.
They will tell you that the guy
running the Zamboni is
screwing up the ice surface,
taking away the Pen's skating
advantage.
What's the real problem? A
prevailing attitude on the team
for a dislike of hitting and a
lack of work ethic, which
translates to weak defense.
Until there is an attitude
change, there isn't a coach
anywhere who could make this
team better than the players
want to be.
Why is it fans complain
about big salary athletes?
Yeah, sure, some of the players
deserve the fans' catcalls when
they are giving less than 100
percent on the field.
But people like Atlanta
Hawks reserve center Jon
Koncak, who didn't even ask
for his two million dollars and
change contract, do not deserve
the abuse of fans. If owners
offer players fat cat contracts,
what are they supposed to do?
Say they aren't worth that
much and accept a lesser
amount? Yeah, right. That's
what we would all do.
Quiz Answer: The last
driver to repeat as champion of
the Daytona 500 prior to
Yarborough was performed in
1973-’74 by Richard Petty.
Petty has won Daytona seven
times in his illustrious career.
Flying in: Rick Demski swoops in for a basket
over a Keuka defender during Saturday night's
game. Game report starts on page 10.
News • Talk and Sports Radio
The Collegian Wednesday, February 21, 1990
photo by Rick Brooks
Sports
bits
Men's Club
volleyball action. The
Bchrcnd Men's Volleyball
Club squad recently defeated
Allegheny College. The match
was held last Friday night at
the Allegheny courts. The
Men's Club prevailed in three
straight matches, winning 15-
7,15-5, and 16-14.
Weightlifters take
note: The Eastsidc YMCA
near Buffalo Road is offering
special rates for Behrcnd
students from April 1 to May
31, which is during the
renovation to Eric Hall.
Do you have some
sports news that everyone aft
Behrcnd should know about?
Then just drop off the
information at The Collegian
office with your name and
phone number. Or just call us
at 898-6488 between 9 am and
5 pm. Deadline is 5 pm the
Friday before the publication
that the information should be
printed ia