Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York • Page 1C

Sunday, February 27, 1977 Poughk psle JournoU IC Sports! And Now Here's A Word From Our Athletes "I very much want to know how much money the actors will get," said Guy Drut, the French Olympic star, reacting to NBC'S purchase of the coverage rights of the 1980 Winter Olympics from Moscow, I had been quietly giggling to mysc(f over the $85 million price tag the Russians had suckered the acock people into paying until ut's statement. He prefaced his pity comment with a comparison between Olympic Games and big shows. Drut feels Olympic athletes are actors. World wide amateur athletics are in a sorry state. Drut has hit the nail on the head.

The point of his comment Is, of course, that the actors who will appear on the stage of the Moscow Olympics will getUttle. Sure there will be the usual commerlcal kickbacks. Let's face it, there has to be a reason why all those Olympians look Ijke the side of NASCAR racing vehicles In their warmup suits. World class athletes on our side Nicklaus Leading Tourney LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) UI played well.

I can't complain Guys just started flaying little better," Jack licklausj said Saturday after seeing his lead shrink to one shot In the Jackie Gleason Inverrary(Classlc despite a three under par69. NicklauS, who has never finished worse than sixth in five previous tournaments on the 7,127 yard Inverrary Golf and Country Gub course, stood at 11 under 205 after 54 holes of the 72 hole event. Ills foutvshot advantage en tertng the round evaporated under the seven under charge of Gil Morgan, and closing to within two shots was first round leader Gary Player, who had a six under 66 Four shots back was Fuzzy Zoeller, who carded a 68. At a fiver under 211, six shots off the pace, were Tom Weiskopf and Bob Nicklaus wasn't sure what would be required Of him Sunday to maintain his lead and pocket the $50 000 top prize. A might shoot a 69 tomorrow and win the tournament by five shots," he said "Then again, I might shoot a 69 and have three guys beat me." Nicklaus started out his round with a bogey five and playing partner Floyd scored a birdie on the first hole to move within two shots of the lead But Nicklaus had no more bogeys and Floyd had three of them to come In at 73 and drop to 213.

"Today I played better and more poised than the other two days. I just didn't make ai many putts," said Nicklaus, who had earlier rounds of 70 and 66. "I made a six foot putt today and that was it." I of the Iron Curtain eke out a living grabbing money under the table. European athletes have made this an art form. Some of them earn a fortune under the disguise of competing as amateurs.

There are those, and skiers come to mind Immediately, who cannot afford to turn professional. Some, like Drut, who have tho nerve andor honesty to admit the reality of their financial arrangements are chastised by those organized groups of elderly gentlemen who control the com pctitipn. World class athletes on the far side of the Iron curtain don't have to grab money under the table, At least one Russian sprinter is a doctor of the run. This clown Is a respected, and supposedly literate', member of some Russian community who earns his keep studying the art of thrusting himself forward with speed The East Germans have taken 'the mockery that is world class amateur athletics to a new high. They take children away from parents and train athletic wtikjmMk ppfl By Larry Hughes machines.

Such kids cWt have to worry about getting a Job after school. The athletes who compete at the Mosopw Olympic Games will not receive a slice of the $85 million pie In the minds of some it would only dirty their hands and foul their minds. The Russians will provide a home for the coming Winter Olympics. NBC will televise tho efforts of hundreds of athletes. Millions' of Americans will sit In the comfort of their homes and thrill to the competition.

For then fans the Games will be entertainment, for NBC the games will be a ratings comeback, for the Russians it will be the greatest combined cash and propaganda coup of all tiroes. And for the athlete it will be a rlpoff. For while some will break tho tapes first and appear on their national equivalents of the Johnny Carson Show, most will go home without medals. The vast majority will have only memories and, perhaps, questions about If the price of those memories (their lost youth) was too high. Avery Brundage, the late high chief of the International Olympic Committee, Would bo spinning in his grave had he not already begun to spin while he lived.

Brundage kicked an Austrian skier out of the 1972 Winter Olympics charging that individual with being a professional athlete. It was a joke then but Brundage was of the old school It Is a compounded Joke that somo people, after all these years, continue to hold to the mirage of world class amateur athletics. I am not as concerned with revising the code by which Olympic teams compete and train as I am with the view that it is high, time for those who call the shots to get off their pomps and ceremonies and take a look at what the crossbreeding of Com munism and Capitalism has wrought, NBC's deal with the USSR represents the highwater mark of travesty of what the Greeks had In" mind when the Olympics started What would NBC do if thq Russians decided to calm such criticism as mine by having the athletics compete, as they once did, Inthonudo? Can't you see it now, printed under Curt Gowdy's TV image, "Viewer discretion is advised." Imagine all those sponsors who paid NBC a cool $250,000 per commerlcal minute of the Super Bowl knowing all the folks would bo watching George Atkinson going after Viking receivers Having doubts about sponsoring athletes with bore bottoms? It's hard for me to believe that anybody would pay anything $85 million, It's sad that an event such as the Olympic Games has been sold for that kind of bread. We've come a long way from nude athletes competing in the Olympic Games. But I think we've been going in tho wrong direction.

Knicks Defeat Pacers NEW YORK (AP) Reserves Lonnie Shelton and Butch Beard led a 39 polnt second period that helped the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 129 115 in a National Basketball Association game Saturday night. Shelton sank two freeLthrows with 5:17 to play in the second quarter to snap a 42 42 tie and start a 20 9 burst thai staked the Knicks to a 62 51 halftime lead 'Shelton scored 10 points In the quarter while Beard added eight and keyed the New York attack with his penetration to the basket The Knicks, who hit 5 per cent of their shots from the field In the first half, maintained their rapid scoring pace in the third period when they poured in 37 points to 'take a 9987 lead. Bob McAdoo, Earl Monroe and Jim McMillian had nine points each for New York in that quarter. Indiana pulled within seven points at 114 107 with 3V4 minutes to go. But Phil Jackson hit a jumper, McAdoo added a free throw and a turnaround jumper and Walt Frailer sank a basket to clinch the victory for the Knicks.

McAdoo. led a balanced New scoring attack with 26 points. Frailer had 21, Monroe 20, McMillian 19, Beard a season high 18 and Shelton 13. lflssfll fW Mlsssssssssssssssssssssssssssfl fi fpwm life 1 1 A HMf4K? mk tffX 1., iMID8KiliP3rRSfaBssw 1 BBssssssssMiliiiBswlf to i Class AA tei Section One BoyssBasketball Pioneers Score Upset DyJOIINTJCACII Journal Sports Writer Poughkeepsle High School, led by clutch foul shooting per formances by Ray Mayo and Alonzo Dixon, scored a 74 69 upset Victory over Carmel Saturday at Dutchess Community College's Falcon Hall to advance to the semifinals of the Section One Class A boys basketball tournament. The Pioneers, who trailed by 11 points with less than seven minutes remaining in the game before rallying to win, join Mid Hudson Conference champion John Jay as the only Dutchess County Scholastic League representatives to reach the semifinals.

In other sectional games played at Dutchess on Saturday, Alexander Hamilton defeated Our Lady of Lourdes 85 69 and Plcasantville stopped Rhinebeck 76 50 In Class competition while Blessed Sacrament beat Beacon 66 47 in Class play. In a ddubleheader at Iona College in New Rochelle, the remaining two DCSL teams, Kingston and Saugerties, were also eliminated Kingston suffered a. 78 67 loss to Yonkers in a Class AA game while Saugerties fell to Gorton 88 51 in Class A play. In other sectional games Saturday, Port Chester defeated Horace Greeley 67 60 in Class New Rochelle nipped White Plains 62 60 in Class AA, Woodlands edged Peekskill 72 70 in Class while in Class Bronxvllle, downed Dobbs Ferry 55 50 Poughkeepsle, which raised its record to 12 8, trailed 63 55 with five minutes remaining in the rme before outscoring Carmel 11 to take a 66 64 lead with one minute left in the game Jerome Elting, who finished the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds, tied the score for Poughkeepsle (64 64) by hitting the second half of a shot foul while teammate Mayo gave the Pioneers a permanent lead (66 64) by converting both ends of a onc and one foul situation, Carmel, which entered the game with an 18 2 record and seeded second jn the Class A field, cut Poughkeepsie's lead to one. point (66 65) when Bill Caflsidyihlttha front end of a two shot ouL After Cassidy missed on his second attempt, Poughkeepsie's Dixon, who was recently elevated from the junior varsity, responded with two foul shots and an uncontested layup to ice the victory Cassidy, who finished the game with 13 points, brought Carmel to within three points (70 67) on a layup before Poughkeepsie's Eddie Pittman hit two foul shots and a basket and Camel's Charles Asselmeyer connected on a jump shot to close out the scoring.

Carmel scored six unanswered points midway through the first quarter to take a 18 14 lead and held a 36 25 half ti me advantage. Poughkeepsle, which will meet Walter Panas at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on Wednesday at 5:30 was led by Dixon and Mayo with 19 and 18 points respectively while Carmel was paced by Kevin Krysty with 19 points and Bill Orr with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Both teams grabbed 35 rebounds with Poughkeepsie's Lance Dawkins netting 12. Poughkeepsle connected on 29 of 77 field goal attempts while Cari met, with a starting frontline that averaged six foot five, hit on 24 of 58 attempts for 41, per cent. "This is a big win for us," said an elated Poughkeepsle coach Bob Stauderman.

"And with four sophomores in the lineup (Elting, Dixon, Josh Hayes and Mike Williams) we're just starting to jell as a unit." Stauderman praised the play of Dixon and his team's defense in the fourth quarter but was more impressed with the way his younger players were able to handle the last minute pressure. "We've played so many close games this season that when it gets down to the last few minutes and the score Is close, I'm sure we're going to win." (Continued on page 3C) Section One Wrestling Kingston Wins Mat Title By LARRY IIERTZ Journal Sports Writer Four Kingston wrestlers won Individual crowns'Saturday night lead the Tigers to a Section One dropped a 4 1 decision to Ian Bernard In the 98 pound bout. Kingston, which had locked up the team championship before the finals began, put the icing on the standing wrestler in the tourney, crushed Ken Spencer 17 6 in the 119 pound finals. Emlle Jordan defeated Jim Bryde of Mamroneck 8 5 at 126 and Doug Reedy edged nTcliampIdnship at cake IrnhCTTCxtthreeboutSTSffPhll 0 In'overtfine In Poughkeepsle High School basketball coach Bob Stauderman talks with his players during a timeout In Saturday's Section One Class A quarterfinal game at Dutchess Community College's Falcon Hall. Ppughkeepsle went on to post a 74 69 upset victory over Carmel.

PooghkMpil Journal Awto by latntt Docknor UCAL Championship Liberty Edges Red Hook By 2 By DON VERB YE Journal Sports Writer NEW PALTZ riite Bell connected on an 18 foot lump shot with 13 seconds left to lift Liberty over Red Hook 68 66 Saturday night for its third consecutive Ulster County Athletic' League boys basketball crown. Liberty had crushed Red Hook for the past two years, winning last year by 34 points and the year before that by 40 points. The Indians, who won Division Two with a 13 3 record, overcame a 29 polnt performance by Red Hook's Matt Kurdziel and shrewd defensive maneuvering by Raider coach Rod Chando. Red Hook, which captured the Division One title with a 14 2 record, used a fast break offense and pressing defense to stay within striking distance of Liberty In the first half. Kurdziel, a forward, scored 19 first 'half points mainly during fast breaks and his teammates contained the Indians superior outside shooting game with a full court zone press.

With three minutes ieKlrt theTInePI Arlington High School. The tournament marked an end to Westchester County schools' domination of the sectionals as nine of the 14 champions were from the Dutchess County Scholastic League, In addition to Kingston's four champs, three others were from Arlington and two were from John Jay. Elsewhere In sectional competition last night, Fran Ricottilll of Beacon captured a Class crown at 167 pounds at Hendrick Hudson High School. Saugerties of the DCSL won the tourney with 155 Vi points Beacon finished eighth with 57 points. Pine Plains finished second in the Class tournament at Ir vlngton High School as Tom Sheridan won the 250 pound title and five other Bomber wrestlers finished second.

Croton won the tourney with 150 points, 28 ahead of Brown, who was voted the out (Continued on page 2C) first half, Liberty's Renee Finn hit two baskets to give the Indians a 39 31 haUtime bulge. Chando changed defensive tactics In the third period by using a diamond and one defense. Chando put Ken Staats on Liberty's high scorer Mi Martin and Red Hook routscored the Indians ,22 9 to take a 53 48 edge heading into the final period. Liberty came back and scored the first four points in the final, period but a basket by Kurdziel and a free throw by Bob Mergandahl moved the Raiders to a 56 52 lead. Red Hook kept its four point lead until there was just over two (Continued on page 2C) Ricky Martinez Rhinebeck also won a Class title in the 98 bout class.

The Indians finished eighth in the tourney with 44 points. Arlington wrestlers captured three of the first four weight classes in the championship jnals in their home gym. Top seeded Dave Piatt whipped second seeded Lou Hamer of Kingston 4 0 in the 91 pound bout, Paul Hanlon lived up to his number one seeding in the 105 pound class, defeating Kingston's Herb Peterson 4 1 and second seeded Jeff Wright was in control all the way in defeating top seeded Gary Beard of Mount Vernon for the lJ2 pound title. Larry Cologiovanni of Osslnlng VV''BssssssssHBsBBrw bsssssW'' assHsssssssssssssfl Irw 'HHiBiW7 yvHH rjf? BiNi Jt Mike Cerulll of Roosevelt IUffh School standing lifts Chris Marlev of John Jay Saturday daring their match at the Section One Class AA wrestling tourney. Cerulll won to take third place in the 167 pound weight division.

PougkkMfMl Journal Photo by JamM P. Docknor.