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
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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
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