The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 41

DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER October 11, 1987 13D iOPIIllOli AND FEATURES MAURY WHITE REGISTER PHOTO 8Y DAVE PETERSON 'Slippery Rock' score-is -chuckler's; By GEORGE RORRER Ganntn Ntwi Service SLIPPERY ROCK, PA. you've attended a major college foot-' ball game, you've heard the and chuckled. Slippery Rock. Public address announcers love to use it as a light touch at the end their lists of scores. They'll intone: "Notre Dame 42, Purdue 23; Southern California 35, UCLA 34; Michigan '35-," Ohio Slate 30; AAAAND.

Slippery Rock 24, Lock Haven 22!" They do it because the name is ny. They do it because there's such -contrast in the levels of football. And they do it because gamblers across', the country often use Slippery Rock, as the tie-breaker in football Slippery Rock is not the figment of'- someone's imagination. There is a Slippery Rock University, there really is a football team and there re: ally are people who sincerely care -l about it. You can even make a case that Slippery Rock is what college foot- ball should be all about.

Town of 2,500 Slippery Rock, the town, is a three-stoplight burg of about 2,500 people an hour north of Pittsburgh. It got its name the way a lot of American towns did from the Indians. Its founders had their choice 1 between "Wechachochapohka," which is what the Seneca called it, or -Z "Slippery Rock," which is English or what they meant. 'ft Hometowners don't think the naso is funny. Ball State is funny to thetnv they say.

And Wartburg, now that's' 1 $my Out rW ''i'Mn i if funny. A fa tmJmMMmillm mmmmmmmmm'mIMmmmmmmmmm I 309-pound Cyclone Keith Sims is a living illustration of the size and power of modern-day football players. Sims, an offensive lineman, is shown in the ISU weight room. Ms! Cost of golf is sky high in Japan By LISA SCHUCHMAN 1987 Nw York Times TOKYO, JAPAN A Japanese golfer recently offered $3.57 million to buy a membership at Tokyo's exclusive Koganei Country Club. But even at that price no Koganei member was willing to sell.

The incident illustrates the fanatical attachment of the Japanese to the game of golf. In this land where open space is scarce and golf is an obsession, country club memberships are so valued that they have assumed the status of investments, held by businesses as well as individuals and traded like securities through brokers around the country. The talk on the fairways of Japan is as likely be of profit taking in golf course memberships as it is of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. 'Like Stock Market' In fact, "it's just like the stock market, except instead of buying and selling stocks, people are buying and selling golf memberships," said Sa-dao Ushijima, director of the Kanto Golf Membership Brokerage Corp. in Tokyo, one of more than 500 such brokers around the city who handle golf membership trades.

Prices for memberships have peaked at about $3.5 million at Koganei, which is one of Tokyo's most exclusive clubs, and at $80,000 to $1 million at others. Since last September, there have been cases in which prices have doubled within a two-month period. These high prices reflect in large part the high cost of land in Japan, a country slightly smaller than California but with a population half that of the United States. Few of Japan's golf courses are public, so many golfers get little chance to play. Driving Range Costly, Too Shigeo Watanabe, a businessman with a Japanese trading company, has to resort to a driving range when he wants to hit a ball because he cannot afford a golf course membership.

Even the driving ranges are crowded. On a recent Sunday afternoon, Watanabe went to a large triple-decked range and had to wait an hour. In fact, the lounge was packed with would-be golfers watching a golf match on television while they waited for their chance to hit some balls. "I only get to play on a golf course four or five times a year," Watanabe said. Sometimes, he said, he plays with co-workers when there is a company outing.

And sometimes a friend with a club membership invites him along. But even as a visitor, playing golf Japan is not cheap. The greens fee on weekends starts at about $70 at the less expensive country clubs and at others can reach $140. In addition, there are caddy fees, meals and transportation costs to and from the country clubs, many of which are several hours from major cities. "So a day of golf for a visitor," Ush-.

ijima continued, "can cost almost $300. That's your average businessman's monthly spending money." The prices also reflect the popularity of the sport in Japan, where more than 10 percent of the population is said to play. It is not uncommon to see businessmen, waiting on subway platforms, practice their swings with invisible clubs. There are 1,441 golf courses in the country, and more than 100 under construction. Comparison With U.S.

The sport is popular in the United States, too, but there are about nine times the courses more than 13,000 and memberships, while valued, are handled through the clubs at prices far below the Japanese level. According to Alfred M. Carraccia, president of the Amateur Golfers Association of America, in Hollywood, memberships in the most exclusive U.S. clubs range between $25,000 and $35,000, with annual dues of between $2,500 and $3,500. At the more modest clubs, he said, which make up the majority, memberships cost between $3,000 and $5,000, and yearly dues are around $1,500.

Another major reason for the golf membership phenomenon is that the economic slowdown in Japan has reduced the need for investment in plant and equipment or new enterprises. So businesses are speculating in golf. It is part of a practice known as "zai-tech," a phrase borrowed from the English "high-tech." It refers to businesses trying to make money in ways unrelated to their industries, by investing, for instance, in computers or in golf memberships. When companies use their memberships, it is often to entertain clients. The game is used as it often is in the United States to get to know business associates.

No Capital Gains Tax But most golf memberships still are owned by individuals. Mamoru Nakajima, a Mitsui Bank branch manager who bought his membership 10 years ago for about $10,000, when, according to him, "it was cheap," said one reason why country club memberships are good investments is that there is no tax on capital gains in Japan. Nakajima does not intend to sell his membership, even though he could get eight times what he paid. "I still enjoy playing golf," he said. Football players grow ever brawnier If a nation chuckles, it doesn't.

bother them. "i "A lot of little bonus things have come our way because of it," said John Carpenter, the school's publicity director. "We have fun with it. It's fine as long as people are laughing with us, not at us, and that's the way.it seems to be." SRU's book store does a booming business, annually selling nearly a half-million dollars worth of imprint-; ed apparel and novelties. A hooded Slippery Rock sweatshirt goes forM $23.

A corduroy cap fetches $9. "We get orders from all over the country," bookstore clerk Rich Bov-ard said. 6,500 Students l't Slippery Rock, the school, is part oCH a Pennsylvania system of 14 colleges and universities. It began in 1889 as a teachers' college, and its enrollment has grown to roughly 6,500. 1 You'd think there wouldn't be much action at a small school in a sparsely populated, dry county, but not so.

hottest topic in town is Playboy mag-. "-'ne, which in its October issue listed, oiippery Rock as No. 5 in the nation as a "party college" and displayed semi-nude photos of two coeds. An embarrassed president, Robert N. Aebersold told a television report- er that women named Rose St.

Regis and Juleigh St. Pierre were not, and had never been, students here. Lucki- -J ly for Aebersold, the reporter didn't ask if the women in the photos had --been enrolled under their real names. There had been an earlier stir when author Lisa Birnbach of "Preppie Handbook" fame branded Slippery Rock as the nation's easiest academic school. Team Has Slipped Slippery Rock, the football team, is a moderately successful member of Comparison Chart (Player, weight and height) LINCOLN, NEB.

As Nebraska football victories go, Saturday's 54-2 conquest of Kansas was plain vanilla. The turning point was the opening kickoff. Wise fans gladly joined in the "wave" to help create excitement and get the blood moving on a chilly day. The unbeaten Buskers, ranked No. 2, did nothing to hurt their national ranking in their Big Eight opener.

They won about as expected, even though holding out I-back Keiih Jones and quarterback Steve Taylor. Both stars could have played. Neither was needed. Dullsville, huh? Not if you were a Big Red football fanatic, of course, whose appetite for points can't ever be sated. Or not if ynu were Clete Blakeman, a fifth-year senior from Norfolk, who finally realized a longtime dream of starting a game at quarterback before the home folks.

If Taylor gets well and stays healthy, Blakeman will wind up with one of the strangest reputations in Husker football history: Designated Jayhawk Killer. Clete's only other start since coming here as a highly-regarded prospect in 1983 was subbing for Taylor last year at Lawrence, when he guided a 70-0 victory. Blakeman's numbers were OK Saturday (six of 12 for 100 yards and one touchdown) but that isn't why he rates special mention. The story here is of a young man who felt it worthwhile to keep suffering the slings and arrows of hard-nosed football even after he'd earned his degree, hoping for the big moment that finally arrived Saturday. "I never came here with the idea of being second string, and I was happy to start in front of a home crowd," he said, after it was over.

"It was different playing in the first quarter rather than the third, but I was satisfied." THE FLASHY GUYS, the game breakers, get most of the attention in college football. The spear carriers, the ones who put out everything they've got even when things aren't going the way they wished, are the ones who make good teams great. The son of a teaching golf pro and a very good golfer himself, Blakeman came here five years ago as one of four highly-regarded quarterback prospects. One quit. Two now play other positions.

Even though never advancing to No. 1 when all other quarterbacks were healthy, Clete kept plugging away, learning the job, coming through in reserve roles most times when called upon. He's a smart kid, who spent one summer working in Washington, D.C., for his state's U.S.senators. He's applied to enter law school at Creighton. If perseverance counts, he's a cinch to be accepted.

He's engaged to be married, with the date set for December, 1988. If Blakeman isn't the young man who has everything, as of Saturday he's one who has what he wanted most in football, to be the guy who took the first Nebraska snap at a home game and then guided the team to victory. And if four Huskers, including tight end Todd Millikan of Shenandoah, hadn't dropped passes that should have been caught, the Designated Jayhawk Killer could have been 10 for 12, with another touchdown. MILLIKAN IS A 6-foot 3-inch junior who arrived as a linebacker and was shifted to tight end after one year. He shares that position with Tom Banderas in an unusual arrangement, with the two deciding which is to be on the field.

"They're so even, and I'm so busy shuffling in running backs and wide receivers, that I can't keep track of how much everyone is playing. So we just leave it up to them," says Coach Tom Osborne, who estimated using about 100 players against the Jay-hawks. Millikan has been bothered with a pulled groin muscle most of the season and Banderas usually starts. Early in the second series, he waves for relief. At game's end, they almost always have the same amount of plays.

Saturday's romp followed three tough games against UCLA, Arizona State and South Carolina. How does our Mr. Millikan assess the 1987 Huskers at this point? "Our confidence is the highest since I've been here," he said. "When we're down, everybody really feels we can score when it's needed. And I feel just as confident with either quarterback, because Clete has so much composure.

He runs the team well." One reason Millikan chose the Huskers over the Hawkeyes is that his folks can get to games here easier than on a much longer drive to Iowa City. "When I read the game scores, I sometimes think of how it would have been if I'd gone to Iowa, but I have no regrets about coming here," he said. Osborne has no regrets, either. TOM OSBORNE My, how they've grown! Football players, that is. And especially interior linemen.

The interior linemen of 1987 are almost 30 percent beefier than their counterparts of 25 years ago, judging by a comparison of this year's starting lineups at Iowa and Iowa State with those schools' lineups of 1962. Typical offensive units were used for the comparison. This season's interior linemen weigh in at an average 276 pounds. In 1962 the average was 214. That's a whopping 62-pound advantage for today's players.

Backs have grown, too, but at a more modest 7 percent rate. In 1962, the starting backs at Iowa and ISU averaged 187 pounds. In 1987, the average is 201 pounds a growth of 14 pounds. When the entire starting offensive units are compared, 1987's players average 37 pounds heavier than 1962 s. This year's average is 238 pounds; 1962's average was 201 pounds.

Today's players thus average more than 18 percent heavier than 1962's players. Coaches and trainers say there are several reasons why football players are bigger and better than ever. A minor factor is the slight but steady increase in typical size among the general population. A more important factor is "natural select tion," meaning that the nation's biggest and strongest youths increasingly are being drawn into football. The biggest reason of all seems to be modern football's training approach, with its emphasis on weight-lifting workouts and special diets.

Nowadays, many aspiring athletes begin using such brawn-developing techniques early in their sports careers. Iowa and ISU rosters at the start of the 1987 season listed three players weighing more than 800 pounds: Keith Sims (303) and Gene Williams (307), both of ISU, and Evan Simpson (315) of Iowa. ihe NCAA Division II Pennsylvania OFFENSE IOWA STATE NOW IOWA STATE THEN D. Ross 197, 6-3 SE Randy Kidd, 180, 6-0 B. Mifchell, 297.

6-4 LT Norm Taylor, 235, 6-2 D.Martin, 286, 6-6 LG D. Heyn, 252, 6-1 John R. Wells, 269, 6-3 RG Tim Brown, 191, 5-9 G. Williams, 307, 6-2 RT VanSicklen, 210.5-1 1 Mike Busch, 225, 6-5 TE Hannahs, 200, 6-2 Brett Sadek, 197, 6-2 QB Bunte, 187, 6 1 S. TB OzzieClay.

188, 6-0 J.Henderson,202,6-O. FB Vaughn. 203, 5-11 E. Bridges, FL Limerick, 205, 6-1 Offense iowa now iowa then M.Mazzerl,205,6-3.... SE Webb, 203, 6-5 Bob Kratch, 270, 6-4 LT Latta, 208, 6-1 G.

Fedders, 260, 6-5 LG Hilgenberg, 209, 6-2 8. Anderson, 260, Recher, 219, 6-1 D. 8-3 RG Mike Reilly, H. Wester, 290, 6-8 RT Gus Kasapis, 223, 6-3 TE Giacobazzi, 201, 6-1 C. Hartlieb, 230, 6-4 QB Fred Riddle, 182, 6-3 K.

Harmon, 200, 6-0 RB R. Sherman, D. Hudson, 235, FB Robert Grier, 186, 6-0 Quinn Early, 175, 6-0 WB Krause, 168, 6-3 Conference. It was dominant in U) mid-1970s, when under coach Bob" 1 DiSpirito it won three straight chana; pionships, but in recent years it hs fallen on hard times. DiSpirito had to give up the job in 1981 after a heart attack, but he'is making an emotional comeback at 59 as interim head coach.

"He came back to bring back Rock Pride," said Bill Shiner, chairman of the recreation department. "He has a way of making the kids believe, of getting them to take pride in who they are and what they represent." DiSpirito's players come mostly from within 50 miles of Slippery Rock, an area where football is king, 's "All the big schools come here to re- cruit," DiSpirito said. "We take tlei; kids who aren't quit: big enough the big schools, or quite fast and hope they develop." On a recent golden autumn Satitfv day, Slippery Rock staged a spirited rally against arch-rival Edinboro and, won with a two-point conversion play in the closing minutes. "That was Rock Pride," DiSpirito! beamed. "Once they get it, we -'I Every week we've gotten better, and that's what small college football is all about." LETTERS TO THE SPORTS EDITOR grazing land for the buffalo and elk.

2. Pave the fairways to eliminate mowing expense. 3. Charge the required park user fee for slow players. 4.

Install sand greens to eliminate mowing. 5. Make the golf ball Washers coin operated. A new list of namas for scrub-ball outfits Here's another crop of altered nicknames for the scrub-ball teams, courtesy of Scott Ostler of the Lost Angeles Times: The Los Angeles Shams, Cleveland Frowns, Houston Spoilers, Los Angeles Raiderettes, Buffalo Counterfeit Bills, Cincinnati Bimbos, and Dallas Cowf lops. Earlier, he suggested the Phony-Niners, the Expatrtots, the Masqueraiders, and the New Orleans Saints Elsewhere.

All the foregoing suggestions should benefit the county in the short run, and kill the golden goose. How much longer do we have until the rotten egg is laid? Alan 3. Anderson, P.O. Box 496., Suite Polk City. The NFL's woes After watching some pretty good NFL football last weekend, I conclude the nonprofessionals are the TV announcers who do not announce the game but attempt to be reporters of news stories on non-news time.

Let's hope they do their job this weekend. Don Butler, Pella. I think the whole mess is the result of greed, mostly on the part of the players but still some ou the part of owners. All the Income from this sport comes from the fans. I think the interest of the fans has been overlooked or forgotten.

Jm DeReuss, 1296 Scott, Ames. Jester Park hassle Recent articles concerning Jester Park Golf Course have stirred my interest. As one who has enjoyed the steady improvement of the finest public course in central Iowa under the departing greenskeeper, I live in fear that rule by committee may ruin my playground. Evidently, the conservation director and two members of the board have never played golf. If they had, some compromise would have kept the most dedicated county employee (Allan MacRac) I have seen.

The head man believes that golf courses and parks are the same. However, if trees and grass are all one can see, one's perspective might be a little shaded. If the effort continues to run the professional off the course, and succeeds, it might be suggested that the Board consider the following: 1. Close the course on Mondays and Tuesdays to facilitate additional CANADA fXrt Ontario NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA Slippery Rock Pittsburgh Erie ft -jj' VSHOWN 1 MlRGINIAf.