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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1979)
joe yogerst Pac-10 soap opera is a smashing hit As is usual this time of year, the television networks are in a dog fight to see who can top the weekly Nielsen ratings ABC, the runaway leader the past two years, has suddenly lost ground to charging CBS and revitalized NBC Two weeks ago, CBS burst into the number one slot for the first time this season There seems to be no clear cut choice as to who will emerge on top by the time reruns start in the spring The surprise hit of the fall season is a show capitalizing on the old TV success formula of violence, scandal, human drama and a dab of comedy It's rocketed to the top of the rat ings and there s talk that it could be in store for a few award nominations The name of this smash hit is Pac-10,' the con tinuing saga of three West Coast college football teams that just can’t seem to keep themselves out of trouble The casting is superb, the acting extraordinary and the direction and sets without match It's the talk of the town; the biggest thing since Roots’ And be sides, it's popular with the masses The season kicked off with Slappy Days,' an episode star ring that fun loving and crazy kind of a coach at Arizona State — Frank Kush Kush loses his job as head coach of one of America's most successful football programs after he's ac cused of punching a punter in the face after a bad kick in a 1978 contest with Washington The player, Kevin Rutledge, later files a $1 1 million damage suit against Kush and the school, accusing the coach of public defamation of character, assault and conspiracy to drive him off the team Arizona State Athletic Direc tor Fred Miller then decides to fire Kush after collecting state ments from players who wit nessed the assault Miller also uncovers a supposed plot by Kush to cover up the incident by coercing players and coaches into denying that it ever took place There hasn't been a climax to a script since Sylvester Stal lone's valiant last stand in Rocky' Kush beats Miller to the punch by quitting before he can be fired He then goes out and leads his team to a 12-7 upset of Washington The players carry him off the field and the entire stadium erupts in chants of "We want Kush." It's a story made in Hollywood The following week, the scene switched from the de serts of Arizona to the forests of Oregon for ‘Leave It To The Beavers 1 Hapless Oregon State is struggling with a wmless record and unmatched inepti tude The pathetic Beavers are at the top of the Bottom Ten and there's talk around Corvallis that they may be replaced by a local high school team Craig Fertig, the OSU head coach, emerges as the tragic hero of this episode while Dee Andros, the gruff old athletic director, plays a superb villan Andros needs a scapegoat for the team's failure, so he fires Fertig at midseason The logic of this drastic action escapes all ten people still interested in Beaver football, so they open an informal investigation of the THE RAINS ARE COMING UNDERWATER HOUSINGS EWA-MARINE • Fits most SLR cameras • Controls accessable • Action ready, in sand, rain, or water • Safe down to 30 feet of water -F SLR’s to 4” in length. -FXC SLR’S with winder. -1 FRN Nikon or Canon with motor .59* 00 erlach’; Camera Centers Campus Store Halfway Between 849 E. 13th Duffy's and the Bookstore matter Fertig complicates the situation by going out and ac tually winning a game as the Beavers upset Stanford There a growing feeling around Corvallis that Andros, and not Fertig. may be to blame for the poor OSU season An dros critics cite his difficulties with recruiting black players while he was head coach Fans and alums also begin to doubt his competence as athletic dir ector and a strong anti-Andros faction develops at the school They’re ready to get out the ole tar and feathers But at the end of the episode, everyone cops out in favor of Andros Fertig is left with the pathetic |Ob of playing out the remainder of the season The viewer is left with a feeling that justice has failed to prevail once again The University Faculty Senate and the Athletic Board both back down on a recommendation that Andros be investigated, at least until a new head coach is hired at the end of the season The scene next switches to sunny Southern California for The Ticket Price Is Right,' the story of scandal rocking the im pregnable football program at USC A Miami newspaper runs a story in which former Trojan players, now in the pros, accuse an assistant coach at Southern Cal of scalping player tickets for eight years in violation of NCAA rules Some players fetch as much as $70 apiece for 50 yard line seats and one reports that he made between $400 and $500 ' on ten Rose Bowl tickets The episode stars Richard Wood, a three time All-Amer ican linebacker at USC who now plays for Tampa Bay of the NFL, Marv Goux, an assistant coach with the Trojans, and O J Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner at USC who now peddles rent-a-cars Wood is fantastic as the ac cuser, Goux not bad in his act ing debut as the accusee, and Simpson smooth as usual in his role of the suave college star who is so good at scalping tick ets that he never has to use Goux Simpson is so good, in fact, that players from UCLA drive across town and prod O J into selling their tickets because he can get a better price Goux, of course, denies the charges And the NCAA in typical fashion refuses to inves tigate their pet program at USC The episode ends happily for all of the mam characters — Wood keeps on playing at Tampa Bay, Goux keeps on coaching at USC and Simpson keeps on running through airports The only real losers are all the other Pac-10 schools that can t afford to scalp players tickets for $70 a shot because they’ll get slapped with an immediate NCAA probation The Trojans just keep on win ning and buying those Rolls Royces But that's Hollywood Did you ever expect an unhappy ending m the land of glitter and gold7 Yep, Pac-10‘ is the un matched hit of the fall season Like sex and violence on TV, the success of the show is just a reflection of realities in Amer ican society There seems to be more action off than on the field m the Pacific-10 Conference this year, a sad commentary on the days when fans just had a good well-played game to watch But those days are no more — this is the year of sports drama m prime time Mork and Mindy, eat your hearts out Casio PW-80 PW-80 Features: • Timer with 2 alarms for stop watch • 8 digit calculator with 4 functions, 1 memory and perfect percent $28.95 BOOKSTORE 13th & Kincaid 686 4331 Hours Mon -Ffi 8 15-6 30 Sal 10 00-2 00
