The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 30

0-2 Thursday, July 6, 1972 THE COURIER-NEWS my eh 0 0)O i. F. iHi Sports BELTED VJinTEIVAUTinE many of whom star for Stevens High School. "I run with them all summer and I practice with them," says Buckstad. "Rick always works out with Gary Cohen (who now stars in college) and Gary helped him a lot In fact it was Gary's shoes that Rick was wearing when he won the mile in Denver." By John Belis Another holdout FEDERAL EXCISEJAX 2.34; 2.52 2.69 2.93 2.78 3.01: 3.12 3.28! SIZE E78-14 F78-14 G78-14 H78-14 G78-15 H78-15 J78-15 L78-15 COST 26.95 27.95 29.95 32.95 30.75 32.95 35.95 37.95 The national meets are where Buckstad gets his competition, because very few 15 year olds around here can run with him.

"In the national meets I run just to win," said Buckstad, 'but in the dual meets I go for the clock." Just trying to win throws much pressure on the shoulders of any 15 year old. Rostel had some comments concerning this: "I've never seen a kid react to pressure the way he does. He ran his best races under pressure." An unusual blessing in disquise might have brought Buckstad his national championship. After a brilliant cross country season, he had just begun competing indoors, when he fell ill with mononucleosis. "He missed the first three weeks of spring track," related Rostel, "When he came back he couldn't run the distance he wanted to.

By the time he came around he was hitting his peak at the end and it paid off for him." Most would have been worn out running big races in late June, but Buckstad was ready for them. A lot of Buckstad's success' might also be traced to his running with older trackmen, 1 yore ass OCDATES jAr.n-c FREDDY Captains F. Coles Sr. Jr. Stripers, Blues, Tuna Diesel Powered COLES SPORT SHOP 1540 E.

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to 6 p.m.; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. -Spp'1 By JOE SULLIVAN EDISON Rick Buckstad of Herbert Hoover Junior High School is the National 15-year-old champ In the mile ran, which he won last week in Denver, Colo. Sounds like the old burn-out theory could apply here. The burn-out theory has to do with child prodigies in any endeavor, who start too young and eventually amount to nothing, since they developed too much too early.

Jim Ryun might be an example of this. He ran in the Olympics when he was still in high school and later began breaking records. Marty Liquori, on the other hand, waited until college to reach his full potential. Everybody knows what happened when they collided last year. Buckstad is starting even younger.

Besides being the national mile champ, he is the world record holder for his age in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He has received coverage in seven national publications. One has to wonder if the young superstar will retain his greatness through high school, college and beyond. His coach at Hoover, Art Rostel, doesn't think that Buckstad will burn out: "Rick has only been running for two years. He started in seventh grade.

This is really the first year he went big time." Buckstad himself doesn't feel he'll burn because he is not really working overly hard. Rostel, however, is impressed with Buckstad's willingness to work extra hard. "Rick is a different type of kid," related Rostel, "I could put him through eight or ten quarter-miles and he'll want to do more. He'll do them and they'll all be around 65 seconds or so. It's amazing." Buckstad says that this is part of his success: "I like to get in a little extra.

I like to feel like I've really worked for a meet." One has to work hard to achieve the heights that he has. Buckstad is totally unaffected by his publicity. Its amazing that a young man of 14 can keep his head about him, while traveling across the country for very big track meets. "I don't mind it," says Buckstad of his travels, "I get to see the scenery." COD Did you ever think you'd see the day when a chess player was a holdout? Bobby Fischer, the American chess wizard, proved that anything can happen when he failed to show up on time this week for his world championship match against titleholder Boris Spassky of Russia. Reportedly, Fischer first balked because he objected to the site for the showdown Reykjavik, Iceland.

A later report said that Fischer was holding out for more prize money. And when a British banker offered to add $150,000 to the pot, Fischer caught the next flight to Iceland. While many idealists expressed surprise and dismay over Fischer's behavior, I wondered how the hard corps chess enthusiasts regarded the situation. I decided to ask my friend Fred, a genuine crusader for the game (in chess circles he's known as the Checkmate Kid). "Fred," I said, "were you and your friends disillusioned by the Bobby Fischer fiasco?" He pounced on the question.

"Certainly not! This is the best thing that ever happened to the sport, it shows that we're going big time. Didn't the baseball players strike this season and didn't the professional football players threaten to go on strike a few years ago? "Look at the superstars in all the other sports. Willie Mays, Joe Namath, Wilt Chamberlin, Bobby Hull they all get paid plenty. Why shouldn't our players get top money?" What is a sport? "But," I protested, "are you sure that chess is a sport?" For a moment, I thought there was fire in his eyes. "Of course it is! It requires mental toughness, agility and long hours of training.

Look how hard Fischer trained for his match against Spassky. You thinH that boxers work hard when they're preparing for a fight that's nothing compared to what a chess player goes through." I was still doubtful. "I'm sure that all of what you say is true, Fred, but I still can't seem to get used to calling chess a sport. It doesn't demand any athletic ability, there isn't even any running involved." Now he was turning 'nasty. "All you sportswriters are the same, you're prejudiced.

How much running is involved in golf-it's a glorified two-mile hike. And what about bowling a bunch of fat guys drinking beer, smoking cigars and rolling balls on the floor. That takes a lot of athletic ability. "And where's your defense in golf or Chess has offense and defense and we observe the rules of sportsmanship." I could see that he was getting upset so I decided to pursue a different tact. "Your arguments certainly are convincing," I admitted, "but, assuming that it is a sport, you don't think it has a chance of attaining the popularity of the er more conventional sports, do you?" "Ridiculous.

Of course chess can have broad popular appeal," he maintained. "First of all, unlike football, baseball and basketball, chess is played world-wide. The game has endured for centuries and it has a richer tradition than any of the so-called leading sports." "You do have a point, Fred, but surely you'll admit that chess is strictly a participant sport. There can't be a whole lot of spectator interest." He jumped to his feet. "That's your fault, why don't we ever see chess stories on the sports pages? All we need is good public relations work and more exposure on television to make professional chess a real bonanza.

T.V. to the rescue "The T.V. dollar can do it Look at the professional golf tour and the bowling circuit. Ten years ago, how many tournaments were there, and how much money was at stake? Television contracts did a world of good for other sports and they'll do the same thing for chess." This took me by surprise. "You mean that pretty soon well be seeing chess tournaments on Wide World of Sports? Somehow I can't imagine Howard Cosell reporting from boardside." "Not just tournaments," said Fred, dreaming the Impossible Dream, "we may even start a chess league.

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