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^-Commentary
A balanced Pac-8?
Take a closer look
V
Mike Marino
Every year people outside of Westwood hope to avoid the inevita
ble in Pac-8 basketball — UCLA winning the conference.
But for the past 11 years — and be prepared to make that twelve —
they've had their way in Bruinland. Some people say they tried to throw
a wrench in the system by bringing in Gene Bartow for a couple of years.
He really blew it — he won it twice. And now they’ve got Gary Cunning
ham at the helm, heading the Bruins to another conference title.
Or so it seems to most. “Until we’ve played through the conference
we don’t know who’s going to win the conference,’’ Cunningham said
yesterday. These next two weeks will be very important, with each
team playing two games at home and two on the road. “But right now
you can’t really say that UCLA will definitely win.”
It isn't February yet, either. The advantage the Bruins have over
everyone else is that they’re immune to the disease that plagues “the
other seven' — they don’t get caught up in the “I’ll beat you, you’ll beat
me" syndrome.
"They never have gotten behind,” said Dick Harter. “They aren’t in
the position to play catch-up like the rest of us are."
And perhaps in no other year has it been more evident. Washing
ton State was figured to give the Bruins a run for their money. So was
Cal. The Bears beat the Cougars and the Cougars beat Stanford.
Stanford beat Washington, who beat Washington State and all the while
UCLA sits at the top, unblemished and unbowed.
All this reflects on the Pac-8 as a conference. When you have a few
others," you call it balanced. And boy, is it balanced! So much so, in
fact, that it’s likely you won’t find another conference team in the NCAA
tourney come this March.
Why? Because this year, at least, the conference is terrible. There
may be a few exciting games — like the overtimes a while back with the
California schools and Oregon State — but outside of the conference
it’s likely to be a disaster. Ralph Miller is 4-1 at OSU to be sure, but his
Beavers were destroyed earlier this year on the Atlantic Coast by North
Carolina and Wake Forest.
This is what the NCAA selection committee looks at. Sure,
Washington, Washington State — and even Oregon — will continue
their “winning programs" by finishing with 15, 16, or 17 wins on the
season, but those wins will be deceiving. A national committee will see
that the defeated were among the likes of Gonzaga, Pacific Lutheran
and Doane College.
There are hundreds and hundreds of teams in the country that win
17 games in a season. That’s no great achievement. Getting into the
NCAA tourney would be — but only UCLA is likely to do that.
“They have better players,” Harter offered. "If we competed
against Cal-Davis or Sacramento State all the time we’d win all the time,
too. In the past, it’s been inevitable that UCLA would win the league.”
Maybe we should ban the Bruins. Or play them only when 1) they
have coaching problems; 2) they field a team of midgets; or 3) they
agree to spot all the other conference teams 30 points.
As difficult as it may seem, or as premature as it may be, you can
write off the rest of the Pac-8 schools as far as playoffs are concerned.
Even the NIT might not take a Pac-8 school. “If we keep chopping each
other, they won t, Harter affirmed. “They’ll be looking for a good won
loss record and a super player."
No one fits the bill. The Cougars were pushing Stuart (Brick) House
as a star for a while, but he’s been hobbling all season. Cal has Gene
Ransom, but their won-loss is now 9-9.
So what’s a conference to do? Fold up and wait for track? Hardly.
The teams under the Bruins will have to take a good look at the position
they re in and change it. Yes, UCLA has the inside lane for recruiting
with its location in Southern California, but they get only so many
players.
That comes later, though. For the rest of the season, pride will have
to take over. “We re going to play hard every game out,” Harter said.
“You can’t play all your conference games like you’re two up with three
games to go. No one is in that position.”
Except UCLA. “But even we don’t have it that easy,” Cunningham
said respectfully. “Every school gets up for UCLA and no matter how
hard things are going for them, they’ll be aiming up for us.
“And toward the end of the season, teams that have faced adver
sity will be trying to salvage a season by beating a team like UCLA.”
It’s about all they have left. Exceot balance
687-2823
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EUGENE TRAVEL
831 E. 13th
Kuhn rejects Blue trade,
urges clubs to alter deal
NEW YORK (AP)—Baseball
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn re
jected the trade of Vida Blue to the
Cincinnati Reds Monday, but
urged the two clubs to restructure
the transaction.
The decision, announced by his
office after Kuhn had left for Bos
ton, was precipitated by the $1.75
million that the Reds had paid
Oakland owner Charles 0. Finley
for Blue, a 3-time 20-game win
ner.
Kuhn has placed an informal
$400,000 ceiling on the price any
team could pay another club for an
individual player. The Reds and
A s tried to skirt that limit when
Cincinnati included minor league
slugger Dave Revering in the Blue
deal which was announced at
baseball’s winter meetings in
Hawaii last December.
Within minutes of the an
nouncement of the trade, Kuhn in
formed both clubs that he was
withholding approval pending his
examination of the transaction.
Finley and Reds President Bob
Howsam spent two days testifying
at hearings called by the commis
sioner earlier this month There
was an attempt at a compromise
that would have sent other Reds
players to Oakland and reduced
the cash involved in the transac
tion. But, when that could not
be worked out, the commissioner
stopped the deal, then suggested
that the two dubs renegotiate dur
ing the second interleague trading
period that runs from Feb. 15 to
March 15.
In Cincinnati the Reds said
they would have no comment until
they could study the 15-page de
cision.
In Oakland, Blue’s attorney,
Richard Seqeria, said he would
have no comment until he gets the
decision.
It marked the second time that
Kuhn has refused to allow Finley
to move Blue to another team.
Nineteen months ago, the com
missioner blocked the sale of Blue
to the New York Yankees for $1.5
million and also disallowed sales
for $1 million each of outfielder
Joe Rudi and relief pitcher Rollie
Fingers to Boston.
Rudi and Fingers both played
out their options with Oakland and
moved to other teams as free
agents with Finley receiving no
thing in return.
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Aboard every Navy
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Starting salaries range
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To find out if you
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See the information team
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Jan 30 - Feb 3
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Be someone special
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sportfolio
Table Tennis team wins
The Club Sports Table Tennis team defeated Portland
Community College 8-7 and Portland State 14-1 .The team is now
tied with PCC for 1st place in the Northwest Collegiate Table
Tennis League. Leading Oregon were Young Jo Kim and Estand
Sangari, who won all six of their matches.
Soccer deadline nears
The deadline for entering soccer teams in the intramural
program is Wednesday, Feb. 1. Soccer team managers will meet
in 171 Esslinger Monday, February 6, at 4 p.m. Soccer officials
will meet in 171 ESL on Tuesday, February 7, also at 4 p.m.
Trampoline open Wednesdays
Coed recreational trampoline is open to all students of all
skill levels in B-50 B Gerlinger Annex on Wednesday nights from
7:00-9:00 p.m. P.E. Clothing is required.
V
950 Special
Eggs—Hashbrowns —Toast
7-10:30 am
Cafeteria Grill
EMU food service