Photos by Perry Gaskill
‘Mike’s Angels’
University student plays coach,
idol to basketball-minded girls
By JOCK HATFIELD
Of the Emerald
Twelve girls adore him and are
glad to be on his team. He calls
them “my little girls” and they call
themselves the “Angels.”
But when University student
Mike Merback applied for a tutor
ing position through ESCAPE at
the beginning of this quarter, he
didn’t expect to wind up the big
brother, coach and idol of a young
girls’ basketball team. “I was hop
ing to get a position tutoring math,
English and maybe physical edu
cation,” says Merback. “Getting
assigned the little girls’ basketball
team was great.”
Merback is the only non
teaching elementary school
coach in the area. With the help of
head coach Larry Dove, he has
taken the “Angels” to second
place in the district.
Merback believes there is a
reason for his success. “The other
coaches yell at their players and
deal with them only on the court,”
he says. “I try to make friends with
the team.” Merback can often be
seen leading the 12 girls around
his dormitory. He often takes them
with him to movies and after win
ning games, to screaming raids on
hamburger stands.
“I try to establish a big-brother
relationship with them,” he says.
“Even when they bring in their
outside problems I try not to sound
like a father.” Merback says the
girls do not hesitate to come to him
with their problems. “The sister of
one of the girls OD’d last week,
and I tried to explain to her what
that meant and why it happened.”
Merback has encountered
other problems in dealing with his
team. Riding back in the car after a
game a dark-haired girl turned
and asked him, “Are you going to
go smoke pot after you drop us
off?”
“That’s one of the things that
surprises me,” says Merback.
“Even at ages ten and eleven girls
are really very mature.”
The shrill cry of 12 hyper girls
cuts the air in the Lane Commun
ity College gym: “Let’s go! Let’s
go! Let’s go! RA!” They clap their
hands and bob into the air.
At first this sight might prompt
the observer to say, as one
woman did at one “Angel” game,
“They’re cute!” But the crowd
sees the grim faces of Bobbie,
Jackie and “Mouth,” they realize
the enthusiasm of the players is
more than an imitation of “grown
up" basketball — it’s the real
thing.
“We put an emphasis on win
ning,” says Merback. “Basketball
gives the girls something healthy
to do. It teaches them sportsman
ship.” But winning is not every
thing for Merback and his team.
I Bill seeks money for minor sports
SALEM—A bill to appropriate nearly $1 million for
minor sports at Oregon’s three state universities was
introduced Friday by the House Education Commit
tee.
HB 3147, introduced at the request of the State
Board of Higher Education, would earmark $986,480
for all intercollegiate sports other than the major
money makers, football and basketball at the Univer
sity, Oregon State and Portland State University.
The bill, strongly opposed by the ASUO, probably
has little chance of passing, especially since House
Speaker Phil Lang,- D-Portland, opposes it.
Lang suggested last week the Department of
Higher Education find the $1 million in its own
budget.
“They always do,” he quipped.
The ASUO opposes the bill, says Mark Cogan,
ASUO vice-president of legislative affairs, because
the funding may lead to an indirect subsidy of the
football and basketball programs.
“The minor sports are supported by the football
and basketball programs,” said Cogan. “But the
State Board of Higher Education didn’t stipulate
whether the major sports will continue to support the
minors. If they don’t, the football and basketball prog
rams can just pump that money back into their
budgets.”
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After losing 33 to 9 last Saturday,
giving the team its second place
ranking, Merback told the girls,
“Be proud. You did OK. Go con
gratulate the winners on a good
game.”
Although Merback says he pre
fers more “mellow” crowds at his
games because it allows his team
to play under less pressure,
crowds at the “Angels” games do
get involved. “Ohhhh!” screams
one woman hiding her face as one
of the “Angels” attempts a tie
breaking foul shot. “Ohhhh!”
Some of the crowd’s more en
thusiastic members are Merback’s
friends from the University. “The
games are great,” says Kelly
Nakao who, with her boyfriend,
has attended all but a few of
Merback’s games. “They’re real
entertainment.”
At 6’2”, Merback towers over
his team, whose center measures
five feet tall. During the game he
strolls calmly up and down the
sidelines blowing air through his
mustache at tense moments. But
there are times when he, too, gets
emotionally involved in the game.
“During one of our last games I got
mad at the ref and was ejected
from the game,” Merback admits.
“It was a bad call but I called up all
the parents to apologize, and told
them I knew I was not setting a
good example with that kind of ac
tion.”
None of the gangly ten to
eleven-year-old girls looks any
thing like Farrah Fawcett, but
coaching the “Angels,” according
to Merback, has other rewards. “It
had been a long time since I had
any contact with people this age,
and I’ve learned a lot about them,”
he says. “The kids are fun to work
with because they look up to me.”
Merback says he often receives
cards from the girls on his team,
and proudly displays a keychain
given to him by one of the girls
which bears the words: “You are a
very good ass. coach.”
Having lost to Corridor school
Saturday, Merback’s team
finished second place in the dis
trict. “We’re looking for an unde
feated season next year,” says
Merback. “Five of our best players
are coming back. We’ll kill 'em,”
predicts one of the “Angels.”
Merback receives no pay for his
work, in fact he says coaching has
cost him more than $100 in gas
since the beginning of the quarter.
“The cost is ridiculous,” says
Merback, “But it is worth it. We’ve
all had a great time.”
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