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-Bob UJcIch
Van Rossen
Who saqs winning is eveajthingp
Within the next couple of years, Don Van Rossen, the
energetic Oregon swim coach who's been around longer than
any other intercollegiate coach on campus, will call it quits.
"I can't operate much longer under these circumstances,''
said Van Rossen, who came to Oregon in 1959. "I’m an
educator and I don’t like what's happening to collegiate sports
today. I'm a fighter, but I'm fighting a brick wall."
The wall, as Van Rossen sees it, is a society that will not
tolerate a loser. "We re losing our perspective on sports in this
country," he said "I was actually embarrassed to call back
home and report our scores from the NCAA meet, not because
I thought they were bad — hell, anytime you even qualify for
the nationals it’s an accomplishment — but because others
would think they were bad "
Van Rossen believes in striving for athletic excellence.
And he believes in working year-round to do that. But above
all, he believes in athletics as an education for many, not an
ego tnp for few
"It's not whether you win or score," he says. "It's whether
you advance as a person through the activity."
Van Rossen has always been concerned with the over
emphasis on winning, but even more so after returning from
last month s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in
Miami
A number of things confirmed Van Rossen's belief that
winning in America has become too much of an obsession:
•A member of the University of Miami women s team
shaved her head to cut down her time "That," Van Rossen
said, "is the extremism I'm talking about."
•Out of 480 athletes competing in the men's champion
ships, 361 did not equal or better their season's best time
"That s the first year that s happened," said Van Rossen, “And
I think it's probably an example of them being pushed to win
week after week after week There's nothing left; they're
worn-out."
•Bill Schulte, one of the country s top backstrokers, failed
to score "and he was ready to drink himself into oblivion. He
considered himself a failure just because he hadn’t placed
hiah
“Parents, coaches and even the athletes themselves
have come to believe that there s no value in finishing second.
Hell, when Mark Spitz was young his dad would beat him if his
times weren't fast enough '
While Van Rossen is trying to “put the brakes on this type
of thinking, he says collegiate athletic administrators are
working against him
At a recent NCAA swimming rules committee meeting,
most members favored a proposal to allow only 40 com
petitors to compete in each event at the NCAA championships
rather than the usual 50-60. “The reason is a financial one,"
said Van Rossen, “but at the same time, it's moving the
emphasis of the meet to more of an elite affair. You vegot to be
super to qualify — being great just isn't good enough.
Van Rossen points to other things, such as the recent
proposal to develop a "Super Conference in football and
some administrator sdecision to drop minor sports to preserve
football and basketball.
Focusing all the attention — financial and otherwise — on
the big-time sports shows a university is more concerned
about winning than benefiting the athletes involved, Van Ros
sen says.
"Let’s play with people in mind, he said, "and quit abus
ing the true purpose of sport.
For openers, Van Rossen would like to see football and
basketball run separately from minor and women's sports. "A
lot of schools in the country are going to this system," he said.
“And why not? They are two very distinct things. Why should
Dick Harter and Don Read have to listen to my petty problems
at a staff meeting? And why should I have to listen to theirs?
They're two separate things
Like most minor sports coaches this time of year. Van
Rossen is sweating out next year's financial situation. Be
cause the swim program s budget was completely axed for the
1975-76 fiscal vear, Van Rossen and his team have had to pay
their own way by a number of fund-raising events.
Van Rossen is still planning another frisbee sale to help
pay back debts incurred by the Ducks' trip to the NCAA meet.
But such campaigns simply can t continue, Van Rossen says
"I don t have the time to be a coach, a teacher and a fund
raiser," he said. "It just takes too much time
Van Rossen is hoping the Duck swim program can secure
$5,000 to operate next year The figure is about 12 per cent of
what the swimmers got two years ago and 1.4 per cent of what
the football team got last year.
Still, Van Rossen isn't sure they'll get it. “I'm just hoping
(new athletic director) John Caine is part realist and part
idealist," said Van Rossen. "He knows football has to carry the
load but I hope he also realizes the importance of the other
sports.
If the Ducks get the funding, swell. If not, it’ll just be one
more step away from what should be the true purpose of sport.
And a step closer to America's idolized concept of winning.
V
J
After watching rain for two weeks
Baseball team returns to action
Oregon s baseball team, which
hasn’t played a game since April
13, gets back into the swing of
things today when the Ducks host
Portland State at Howe Field at 3
p.m.
If it doesn't rain.
Mel Krause s gang, no stranger
to rain-outs (they've had four
straight now), swept a aou
bleheader from the Vikings back
when the sun used to shine, 8-6
and 5-4.
The Ducks were 7-1 then and
are now 10-8, hoping to turn
things around.
After dropping three games to
Washington State, Oregon is win
less and resides in the cellar of the
iNonnern Division race.
The Ducks will face Oregon
State in three games this
weekend.
In the meantime, Krause and
the Ducks are just hoping to be
able to get on a diamond again —
soggy or otherwise
Junior Brian Shandera will start
for Oregon today.
Sporkfolic
Ducks host OSU today
The Oregon women s softball team will host
Oregon State today at 3:30 p.m. at Amazon Field.
The game, which was rained out twice last week,
is the first of a best-of-three series which will de
cide which team qualifies for the national tourna
ment later in May.
Hart wins fifth straight title
PORTLAND — Steve Hart won his fifth
straight title and Buck Davis and freshman-to-be
Curt Nixon took runner-up spots in the Oregon
Open AAU wrestling meet over the weekend.
Hart beat his three opponents 29-0, 35-0 and
3-0.
Netters drop 6-3 decision
Southern Oregon State College downed
Oregon 6-3 in women s intercollegiate tennis ac
tion Saturday.
Patti Layton and Julie Hutchinson picked up
singles wins for the Ducks while the team of
Laurie Butte and Linda Franciscone was the only
doubles victory.
Beavers whip Oregon crew
Oregon State defeated Oregon in two of three
crew races Saturday in the University of Oregon
Invitational Regatta at Dexter Reservoir.
In the first race, the Duck women were beaten
by the Beavers on the 1,000-meter course but
showed improvement that belied their three
weeks of rowing experience.
The Oregon men's lightweight eight defeated
Oregon State in a 2,000-meter race, putting on a
strong sprint over the last 500-meters to win by
half-a-length.
In the third race, the Oregon State men’s
heavyweight boat won by three lengths.
Next action for the Ducks is Sunday when they
host San Diego State at Dexter. Races begin at
9:30 a m.
Arabian Team takes crown
The Arabian Team downed PEK 3-2 to claim
the University of Oregon soccer tournament
Saturday as Michele Davis, Kahlid Alsudairy and
Ahmed Hatlanv scored goals for the winners. It
was the first time PEK had lost a championship
game in the last three years.
Find it at Oregon' The University's Summer Session offers a
relaxed four-day week of courses, workshops, seminars, and
institutes All students pay resident tuition during the summer
and there is abundant dormitory and off-campus housing
space Call extension 3475 and plan your summer program
now
Looking for
a summer of
peace and
tranquility?