Logansport Pharos-Tribune from Logansport, Indiana • Page 11

-Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, Thursday, May 6,1993 Webber From Page B1 her, not us?" It was a voice he had a million times. But here, in the heat of decision time and tossed atop his sense that he could with these NBA guys; they're so tough the voice was loud and clear. He had his sign. Not long after, Webber went home to Detroit and took his mother around in a hug. "It may not be your first choice," he told her, "but it's my choice.

It'll be good." Say goodbye to Fabulous. "We had him for two years," said his coach, now his ex-coach, Steve Fisher, who, despite his worried expression seemed determined to put a positive spin on this loss, "and that's two years more than else. He's ready to compete in the NBA. I can't say he's not. If he stayed another year, he'd be able to come out and dominate, He stopped himself.

No point in buts. Say goodbye to Fabulous. "I'm still part of the Fab Five," Webber said, "the only thing is we be playing on the same court i That's a big "only thing." Webber leaves a legacy in Ann Arbor as arresting and curious as the he played for. In some ways, the Fab Five will now be known as 3 The Greatest Team To Never Win A i Title. Not a Big Ten ring.

Not a I national championship. Nada. 3 Yet there is no denying the play- eis' impact: They shook up college I sports, they made everybody watch. With their baggy shorts and shaved heads and black shoes and black I socks they played basketball and played with the basketball. They 3 rflew and dunked and yelled trash and slapped fists and inspired fan mail and inspired hate mail and drew more TV closeups than any 5 college team in history.

I College game's loss 'i They will not be the same with" put Webber. It's like the Beatles without McCartney. Webber was the one who commanded the most 5 attention. He was The Face. The Force.

In two years' time, he had become internationally famous, he was mobbed when the team went to Europe, and that, was last summer. QClaw Continued From Page B1 "I'm coming around," he said of the recent surge that lifted his to .250. "I'm seeing the ball and swinging at better pitch- Ces. Everybody's coming around ready for conference." i The Berries (10-3) play their first iNorth Central Conference game this -'evening against Kokomo at Park Taylor falls to 5-9. As the nation's top high school player his senior year, he arrived at Ann Arbor with the brightest pedigree, and started every game in his brief career.

While he often made overanxious mistakes passes too high, shots too hard he also made backboard-rattling dunks, and vacuum rebounds, he held the ball the way a longshoreman holds an orange, and he showed the most expressive faces, hanging on the rim after a slam, charging down- court after a basket, running out of the tunnel, waving a fist and urging on his teammates. "THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN US! THEY SAID WE'RE UNDERDOGS!" he yelled before the Final Four game against Kentucky, pointing at reporters as the team raced through the press area. And those same reporters leapt to their feet and ran alongside him, jotting down his words, hoping for more, even though it was criticism directed at them. Webber had that kind of charis- I LOGANSPORT 3, TAYLOR 0 Maytor Logamport rhbl ab hbl Mtiares3b 3 01 0Stephensss 3010 1 OOOHoltdh 3111 vrjishonK 3 OOOMinthomp 00-00 Aaron rf 2 00 0 Anderson 1b 0000 3 2 00 OSimpsond 2 02 0 Sampson It 3 OOOSmith2b vSuHivanss vaBryanc Aaron 2b 2 01 OHelvle2b -tRichmood2b lOOOHilltec 1 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 000 000 0 0 0 0 363 ..0000000 0 Taylor 7, Logansport 4.2B -tOMMtarph 1 oOOUddrf Stepp 3b Sandborg 3b 25040Totali 0 0 2 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 24 i (: -Taytor 6321 1 64003 10000 Mlnthom. pBoflersGet (Chad Austin RICHMOND, Ind(AP) Austin, who averaged 21 points per igame for Richmond last season, has to enroll at Purdue flJniversity after a year at New iHampton Prep in New Hampshire.

Boilermaker forward Cuonzo fMartin attended the same prep Ischool. "I think this is the best choice for Austin said. "It will give me a to develop my dribbling skills and work on my study habits. Austin follows his brother, 1988 iMr. Basketball Woody Austin, to tpurdue.

Chad Austin said he also Bowling Green, Indiana I Estate and Vincennes University, a Iperennial junior college power. t- In other news, the Purdue basket- 5 Jball team leaves Sunday for a tour of England, Belgium and in which it will play at least and possibly 10 games. The Boilermakers, 18-10 last -season and a first-round loser to Island in the NCAA touma- has been working out on since the end of the season I tgnd.last week began practicing for European tour. ma. He is fascinating to listen to he can ponder race relations, jump shots and TV announcers in a single sentence and because of that, he inspired emotion, from resentment to sympathy, especially after what is now the final play of his college career: the ill-fated dribble upcourt in the last minute against North Carolina, when he froze, then called a time-out the Wolverines didn't have.

He watched, slack-jawed, as the ball, the game and the dream were grabbed away by the referee. Final game not a factor Someone asked whether that play was the reason he would not return. "No," he said. "At first I thought, 'No way I can end my college career on But nobody died from it. Nobody lost their job from it.

And I just have to go on." Time passes. Wounds heal. Say goodbye to Fabulous. Now, there are many out there who feel burned by this, as if Webber just reneged on a loan, or took training here and got a job else. And maybe, once upon a time, you could say that about college athletes.

After all, they get a free scholarship, free coaching, and in return, they are expected to give the school their best years, which are usually their last two. But let's be candid here. Michigan has already made a zillion dollars off these kids. Count the ticket sales, the TV revenue, the extra money for twice reaching the Final Four, the publicity, the merchandising, the uniforms with Webber's number on it take all that, and then figure that not only don't the athletes see any of that money, but they are not even allowed to work during the season, and you quickly see how the debt is paid. The system is outdated.

It clanks with hypocrisy. These kids will keep leaving, younger and younger, until college sports wakes up and comes into the '90s. And I-don't mean the 1890s. "I don't feel Michigan owes me anything, and I don't think I owe them anything either," Webber said. "Coach Fisher kept all his promises.

I made some great friendships. I played on a once in a lifetime team." And he's gone. Outta here. Will he make it in the NBA? No question. As quickly as if he stayed another year? Maybe not.

Is he ready for a life where money is the bottom line, where teammates can be traded, where nobody watches to make sure you're OK, going to class, getting a degree, staving out of trouble? He thinks he is. They always do. Maybe this one is. Chris Webber used to hold-his sister's and brothers' hands when they walked across the street. He slept with them in their beds when he came home from college.

He shelters them from fans, and slips them money whenever he has some. They cried when he told Page B3 them he was going pro, mostly because they felt they wouldn't get to see him anymore. Because he aspires to taking care of them all, because the fame is there, the money is there, the confidence is there, and the path is open, he is stepping through the looking glass. So be it. Just an hour before the press conference, he was in the gym, shooting baskets with his buddies.

And during the announcement, the lights grew so hot, he began to sweat. His mother quickly sent up a tissue so he could wipe his forehead, because mothers do that for their children, even the ones about to make a boatload of money. Sunrise, sunset, says the song. Quickly go the years. Right or wrong, Chris Webber has found his sign, his star light, star bright, and we can only wish him luck as he tries to follow it through the sky.

(Mitch Albom is a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press.) SALE 49.50 14K GOLD CHAINS OR 14K GOLD BRACELETS, REG. $99 EA. Choose from a dazzling collection. OFF GEMSTONE JEWELRY FOR HER Select from beautiful rings and pendants. Remember, May's birthstone is emerald.

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29.99 OFF Dressy blouses for misses, petites and women. OFF SPORTSWEAR IN MISSES' SIZES Sale 24.99 Reg. $34. Misses' polo top. Sale prices effective thru Saturday, May 15th.

OFF LADIES' NOVELTY PRINT TEES FROM AND SPUMONP SMART VALUE 99.99 SPRING BOUQUET 4-PC. TAPESTRY FABRIC LUGGAGE SET Only 49.99 Spring Bouquet garment bag. AMERICAN 6000 SERIES SOFTSIDE LUGGAGE Mfg. Suggested Retails $404130 OFF LADIES' SHEER CARESS 9 CONTROL AND SHEER PANTI HOSE BABY DAYS SALE THROUGHOUT OUR NEWBORN, INFANT, TODDLER AND PRE-SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS OFF SLEEPWEAR IN LADIES' SIZES Sale 21.99 Reg. $30.

Misses' seersucker lounger. off ladies' leisurewear. Leisurewear sale priced thru Saturday. May 22nd. vii unm a cioseouts Swatch" and Gucci watches, Stnde Rite otherwise noted.

Entire line sales exclude Smart Values, Buy erchandjs showpijs representative of our assortment may be enlarged to show detail. 01993, JCPenney Company, Inc. Logansport Mall.