sports
Without much fanfare it was announced
last week that Mac Court would be the site
of an internationally-sanctioned meet be
tween the men’s national teams of Japan
and the United States on Feb. 3.
You might say that it's nothing new. You
might add that the meet will probably be
another one of those boring “all-star” affairs
with two supposedly “national” teams.
First off, this really is an international
meet. Four world-class judges will send the
scores of the meet to the Federation of In
ternational Gymnastics as part of a series of
qualifying scores for the World Games to be
held in France later this year.
In addition, both the men’s teams from
the U.S. and Japan will be representative of
the teams the two will field in the Moscow
Olympics. This meet, like others that will
take place between now and 1980, will be
pivotal in the drive for American accept
ance among the gymnastics elite of the
world.
“Everybody in the world will agree that
we have some of the best coaches,
facilities, and athletes in the world for gym
nastics,” said Oregon gymnastics coach
Bill Ballester. Ballester was named to coach
the men’s team that faces Japan Feb. 3.
“But the problem is that they don’t get
together. We’ve got some fine gymnasts on
the West Coast, others in the South, and
more in the East. But all that talent has
never been brought together to train as they
do in Japan and the Iron Curtain countries.”
A meet such as the one to be held in
'-Commentary-s
A meet that marks a start
in a favorable direction
Mike Marino-^
V
Eugene is nevertheless a step, although
small, in the right direction. Olympian Curt
Thomas, who currently redshirts at Indiana
State, will lead the team that also includes
Oregon’s Jim Kelch. Add Gene Whelan, an
alternate on the 1976 Montreal team, Mike
Carter, a fine Olympian from LSU, and the
top two high school gymnasts in the U.S.,
Jim Hartung and Mike Cahoy, and you have
the makings of more thai i just a good team.
And the women aren t forgotten. Dick
Mulvihill, who directs the Oregon Academy
of Artistic Gymnastics in Eugene, will field a
team that will compete with the Japanese in
exhibition.
But the real importance of this meet lies
not with the individual competitors or
coaches. Certainly the meet couldn’t take
place without them, but the emphasis lies
on its effect on this country’s program. In
nearly every major international sport, the
United States is in a position of relative
strength, and has been for many years.
Not so with gymnastics. The sport has
been dominated in the men's category by
the Japanese, and with the women it's been
mostly Eastern European countries.
‘ Those countries take their best gym
nasts and train them all year round." Bal
lester said. "There s the debate of whether
or not they re professionals, but the impor
tant thing is that they've been brought to
gether and they train together.”
Which is something that the U S.
women s program is starting to do. They’re
much farther along than the men are," Bal
lester said. "They have age-group pro
grams where aspiring young gymnasts are
chosen by the USGF and taken to camps
(like Eugene s Academy) to work on their
gymnastics. And right now the women’s
program in the U.S. compares favorably to
the programs in Japan and the Iron Curtain
countries.
But the men, they're a little farther back.
For one thing, you have an advanced col
legiate program with nation-wide competi
tion that can detract from the national effort.
And of course, there's the matter of bringing
the talent under one roof.
Right now at least, that's where Ballester
comes in. My job is to bring the com
petitors together and let them function as a
team,” he said. ‘ Some coaches will have
guys changing their routines as soon as
they hit camp, but you don't go making
changes such as that. My responsibility is to
get them together and make them comfort
able.”
No doubt the Japanese coaches will be
doing the same. Theirs is a young team,
with none of the big names from Montreal.
“But I think they’re grooming this team for
Moscow,” Ballester offered. “And this meet
will give them some idea of where they are. ”
In Thomas they’ll have a good stick to
measure up to. He is no doubt the finest
gymnast ever to come out of this country,”
Ballester said, “he’s really matured and is
probably one of the top ten in the world.”
And Kelch, Oregon's Japanese-trained
grad of Churchill High will be worth watch
ing, too.“He’s not ready for the Olympics
now,” Ballester said. “But he falls in the
category of all the other guys on the team.
He’s capable of competing with the best.”
But for the $5 admission price, ($3.50
general, $2.50 student) fans will see more
than the finest in gymnastics come next
Friday. “It's a sporting event,” Ballester
concluded. “And it's the exchange of ideas
between young athletes of two different
countries. That makes it exciting.”
And worthwhile seeing.
Watson wins Clam Bake
for second year in a row
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) —
Tom Watson holed a four-foot par
putt on the second playoff hole
to beat Ben Crenshaw in sudden
death and scored his second vic
tory of the season Monday in the
rain-delayed Bing Crosby Na
tional Pro-Am Golf Tournament.
Watson, who used a victory in
this tournament a year ago as a
springboard to 1977 Player of the
Year honors, blew a three-stroke
lead late in the day. He had a
chance to win it outright on the
72nd hole and missed, then finally
Walsh to remain
at Stanford helm
From The Associated Press
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Stanford
Cardinal head football coach Bill
Walsh announced yesterday that
he intends to remain at Stanford,
thus ending speculation he would
take over the helm of the profes
sional Los Angeles Rams.
Walsh led Stanford to a 9-3
season, capping his successful
first year with a victory over
Louisiana State in the Sun Bowl.
In making the announcement,
Walsh said he wished to remove
any doubt about his future in
coaching.
“I appreciated the Rams in
terest in me,’ he said.
“However, I want to set the re
cord straight and remove any un
certainty about my future at this
time ... I will not be leaving Stan
ford.”
r ~\
PSYCHIC
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nailed it down when Crenshaw
bogeyed the second playoff hole.
It was the first bogey of the day for
the dynamic Texas blond.
They finished regulation play
with matching scores of 280, eight
under par. Crenshaw had an
almost-errorless 67 in the final
round.
Watson, now the first man to
make a successful defense of a
tour title since Johnny Miller won
his second Bob Hope Desert
Classic in 1976, threatened to run
away from the field with a front
nine 30, but cooled off to a 69. He
had a 12-foot birdie putt that would
have won it on the last hole, but
saw it lip out.
Both parred the first playoff
hole. On the 218-yard 17th that
juts into the pounding surf of Car
mel Bay, Watson put his tee shot
on the front of the green. Cren
shaw was bunkered and came out
10 feet long. Watson putted some
three feet past and Crenshaw
came out 10 feet long, then mis
sed his 10-footer. Watson then
made the winning putt.
EACH WEEK!
• TUESDAY
ARABIAN NIGHT!
• WEDNESDAY
PERSIAN NIGHT!
Authentically prepared
special dishes
Eugene’s newest and tastiest
dining facility. Sunday Brunch
from 8:00 A M. until 2:00 P M.
Call 485-2727
for reservations
ACROSS FROM WILLIAMS’
BAKERY ON FRANKLIN
Come see the latest ski fashions.
Bern’s fkl /hops
Berg’s West, at the corner of 13th & Lawrence.