The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 48

fttar Orlantt, Flwuk Thursday, October 24, 1974 Gators ttememher Tumbles To Duke From Page 1-C World Football League Coach Doug Dickey said. "They are capable of beating us or n.iybody on their schedule." Florida will enter the game in better physical condition than they were in last week against Florida State. Several key Gators missed practice all week of the FSU game and two offensive starters, Burton Lawless and Paul Parker, did not start in the line against the Seminoles. They were replaced by Junior Gerald Loper and sophomore Bruce Mullin-iks, both of whom were praised by Dickey for their play. GATOR NOTES: Punter Buster Morrison, an Orlando product, has been chosen as captain for the Duke game Plenty of North and South stand tickets remain on sale for the Duke contest, but less than 1,200 remain for the Auburn game, and approximately 3,500 for the Georgia contest in Jacksonville Nov.

9. GAINESVILLE Some of the most painful football lessons which have been administered to 1 i a teams In the past have come from Duke, the Gators' Homecoming opponent this Saturday at Florida Field. Few true Gator fans, for example, will ever forget the first game between these two schools. It came in 1962 and Florida quickly ran up a 21-0 halftime margin in Jacksonville, It took a Carlos Alvarez touchdown punt return of 64 yards for the Gators to squeeze past the Blue Devils, 21-19. The following year in Tampa the a i 1 y-favored Gators were beaten, 12-6, on four field goals and a ball control offense by Duke.

DUKE IS 4-2 with one of Its wins coming over Purdue, which beat Notre Dame. "Our scouts rank Duke with virtually every team we have played thus far," again. I feel personally obligated to the team. I know I shouldn't feel that way but I do. "I would say the majority of my teammates are bitter.

When you dedicate your life to professional sports, you play to win. And you expect to get paid for what you do. It's just like you going to work for a month or six weeks and not getting paid. It's not any fun playing for free when you've got a wife and family to support." No shroud surrounds the primary need of the World Football League, this struggling baby now seeking new investors and virgin Shreveports for its mystery tour. Miami millionaire Maston O'Neal is' admittedly interested in resuscitating the Jacksonville franchise; too, former Bear middle linebacker Dick Butkus was attempting to assemble a group to invest In the same city.

Sonny Grandelius, the general manager of the defunct Wheels, has talked to Paul Hornung and singer Marvin Gaye about reviving a club in Detroit. And of course there is the tantalizing speculation about the team which will presumably operate in the remodeled Yankee Stadium. "One thing that Impresses me is that at mid-season the league realized it had to change horses and it did it," says Charlotte's Upton Bell, referring to musical chairs with franchises. "I'm glad it learned that the first year, not the third or fourth. But you can't blame the people in the league for it, they ran into something they couldn't foresee, they couldn't foresee the economic crunch.

"What this league ran Into was the worst economic era in the history of the country for the last 30 years. It was well-funded at the beginning, but then it met this situation that no one could foresee. Now everyone has problems, including the NFL. Look, I put together a group for the Tampa (expansion) franchise, but it took a look at the $16-million (purchase price) and then at the general economic situation and couldn't see investing that much. And, as far as I know, no one has yet." "Money Is tight, whether you're running a shoe factory or a football franchise," adds Memphis Owner John Bassett.

"A couple of years ago people were lined up in droves for the chance to finance a professional team, for ego or whatever purpose. Those people aren't around anymore." Still, the league has survived, with fits and starts' this roughest of all years. Next month it will begin its playoffs, an occurrence many bet would never unfold, and in 1975 will be buoyed by the presence of Csonka, Kiick, Warfield, Bob Kuchenberg and Tim Foley from Miami, Calvin Hill, Craig Morton and Mike Montgomery from Dallas, Ted Kwalick from San Francisco, Daryle Lamonica from Oakland, Ron Jessie from Detroit, L. C. Greenwood from Pittsburgh and Curley Culp from Houston.

With them will come not only an improvement in play, but also attendent publicity, thus far minimal and usually negative, thanks to the revelations of papered houses. "When they go into New York, "says The Hawaiians Isenbarger, "you know everyone's going to want to talk to them. Now we go in and no one cares." Tomorrow: The Commissioner original Memphis franchise was moved to Houston, then moved to Shreveport. And the original Toronto franchise was accepted In Memphis, after the city was ignored by the NFL expansion committee. Even the league's stronger teams have not been Immune to such follies, Steve Wright, the itinerant and iconoclastic tackle, walked out on the Chicago Fire, noting sarcastically, "Our locker room looked like a bus station." Larry Hatfield, the owner of the Southern California Sun, was indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of making false statements to secure a total of $474,000 in bank loans, one of which went to his team.

political," grumbled a source in the league when asked about this. "Some guy's out to get him. Hell, the loans have already been paid The Bell had to dismiss its cheerleaders because it could not afford to pay them $10 per game, and it plays in antiquated John F. Kennedy Stadium. "When we were coming in from the airport," recalled John Isenbarger of the Hawaiians, "everyone was wondering why they built Veterans Stadium when they had this 105,000 seat stadium sitting right there.

"Then we went over for practice and as we walked into our locker room, everyone sorta looked at each other and said, 'This is why they built Veterans The field looked like a circus had walked over it. Underneath, the walls had cracks and we were afraid they would fall in at any time. And as we were walking to the lockerroom, we passed all this garbage piled in the corner and rats were scurrying around through it." "Right now we're all kind of taking our own paths. The club has been dissolved for this year at least. Whether or not we make another go of it is still up in the air.

From what I understand, they are going to try to reinstate the club for next year. But right now it looks pretty bleak. We haven't been told anything except that for the rest of this year, the Sharks won't be playing any more football. "As far as the support of the people in Jacksonville, we had the second-highest support in the league as far as attendance goes. No question, a team could go in Jacksonville, provided you had the right amount of management and the right amount of money.

As it stands right now, we're six games in arrears (on salary) for games that have been played. That is in the process of Ljing settled. The league is liable for it. I guess the players have the right to sue the league but you don't want to do that. It would bring a lot of headaches.

We don't want to go that route. I'm just staying here in Jacksonville. I just got out of college (Iowa State) and I'm looking for an off-season job. Right now, I'm in the process of preparing for a securities examination for an investment company based in Minneapolis. "As far as my guarantee goes, I can't tell you.

I don't know the exact status myself. I have a lawyer helping me out with these thing. We will take every step necessary to see that we get the things due us. "As I see it right now, though, I would like to stay in Jacksonville for the simple fact that I've already put in sone time down here. I cracked it so to speak.

If I go to Philadelphia, I would have to start all over FREE PUMR0MS sit our iarcc am ad neaa the wout of THIS fwe! 1 AAAM I Kick Game Big Concern For Mudra ritri aiwiS OPEN DAILY 10-10; SUN. 12-6 football being blown up and they thought that's all there was to Still, when placed in perspective and against the background of the American Football League's early years, the WFL seems not so terminal. The old AFL intended to have a team in Minneapolis; it never played. It was run out of Los Angeles (to San Diego) and out of Dallas (to Kansas City). When Oakland played at Seals Stadium, the groundskeepers refused to lower the pitcher's mound; it later moved to a high school field.

The New York Titans went broke and checks bounced; the Oilers began in Jepperson High School Stadium; Buffalo was certainly not a media center; and Boston players used to watch game movies on a bed sheet while sitting on overturned milk cases and dodging rain drops which leaked through the roof. "Everybody has reservations about anything he gets into, but I choose to look at things relatively," says Upton Bell, the general manager and driving force behind the new Charlotte Hornets. "There were a lot of problems in the AFL when it started too, but a lot of them were hidden. Football didn't get the coverage then like it does now. The press didn't investigate it.

But remember those things. You have to look back." You have to look forward, also. One source in the league estimates that some 50 NFL players besides those already publicly committed will be changing leagues next season. "For various reasons," this source says, "NFL players put into their WFL contracts that no announcement could be made until the NFL season ended. But wait until then." Further, another source claims that David Merrick, the Broadway producer of such hits as Hello, Dolly, Promises, Promises, Oliver and Gypsy, is negotiating to put a WFL team in Yankee Stadium when it is finally refurbished in 1976.

Merrick, busy with the Broadway opening of his latest play, Dreyfus in Rehearsal, was not available for comment. They may be called the Wiffle Follies, this endless stream of misfortune, malfeasance and mishap which has bedeviled the World Football League since its spawning. Taken singularly, some are funny, some, tragic; together, they exist as mute testament to stupidity, cupidity, lack of preparation and misspent ambition. The most glaring folly unfolded in Detroit, a franchise destined for demise from its inception. Before it mercifully expired, it had thought of housing its players in tents during training camp; it had to cancel practice because it couldn't pay the dry cleaner and get its uniforms returned; it had to borrow tape from an opposing team; it could not get game films since it did not have the funds to pay the processor; its players were refused lodging because realtors didn't trust the club's checks; its players lived as many as eight to a house (including wives) because that was the only way they could afford it; and its player rep, former Viking jon Henderson, had to pay the hospital bill for his thild.

"They told us our team's Blue Cross was no good and I owed them $500," Henderson remembers. I Even in expiration the situation was ignominious, Us coach, Danny Boisture, going to his office on the day of death only to find the door locked. He walked to a law office across the hall and asked a secretary if she would call the maintenance man for assistance. "And who are you?" the lady asked. 1 "I'm Coach Boisture," he said, i "Oh, I'll be glad to call." Once inside Boisture ruminated on the team's demise.

This is so hard to take," he began. "You're proud it's part of your profession. You've been competitive your entire life and it becomes a way of life. "But then you have to meet people and they always ask you the same questions. 'What's wrong, 'What's the matter with your They mean well but it gets embarrassing after awhile.

After awhile, I don't even like leaving the house. Sometimes I feel like I'm a recluse." Bobby Gill, the offensive line coach who had left a job at a Texas high school, said simply, "At least when you coach high school ball you know the team is going to be there from day to day." "They're a bunch of clowns," said punter Chuck Collins about the team's owners. "I'd like to hang them by their thumbs. They're just 32 jerks who thought they'd be millionaires overnight, thought they'd be able to brag to their friends about being owners of a football team. All of them only told us one truthful thing out of 50,000 lies.

That was the fact that we were going bankrupt." The other bankrupt and disbanded franchise was situated in Jacksonville, an area ripe for exploitation by professional sports and a city which supported its team until its demise. The players there did not suffer through chaos similar to Detroit, though by the end they had failed to receive checks for their last six games. Their problem was the team's original owner, Fran Monaco, who did not have money to individually finance it, who hoped to, then failed to sell public subscriptions, who borrowed $26,000 from his coach and then fired him, and who finally had the club taken from him by the league. When he was dismissed, Monaco's payouts and liabilities totalled $1.85 million. "APPARENTLY EVERYTHING he did, he did on credit," said placekicker Grant Guthrie, referring to Monaco.

"The bills are floating everywhere. We've got more bils than you could ever imagine possible. The management at the top level of this club has been unbelievable." Mismanagement also undercut the Florida (based-In-Orlando) Blazers, a team still extant, but one attempting to operate within a maze of financial insecurity, personal attacks, injunctions and court orders. In lightning sequence, David Williams, the owner of the Holiday Inns in Orlando and the biggest investor in the Blazers, evicted the team from its Holiday Inn offices. Rommie Loudd, the managing general partner, was removed by the league, which said it was going to assume control; Loudd sought and received a temporary injuction preventing the league from taking over the Blazers; Loudd's attorney asked for a full investigation of WFL finances, claiming he has reports that approximately $6 million has been paid to league officials personally; Loudd himself was sued by a former attorney for the Blazers and by an Atlanta businessman; the league air-mailed checks to the players, but then under pressure from the courts stopped payment on them; and the players themserves retained a lawyer affiliated with the NFL Players Association to look after their interests.

Now, Loudd is said to have new investors. Remarkably, through all this, the Blazers have managed to lead their division. "Jack Pardee (the head coach) is the franchise," says former Eagle assistant Brad Ecklund, who now handles the Blazers' offensive line. "When we were owned by the league, the league put him in full charge. And surprisingly morale has been excellent.

I've never been with a group of men where they held on so well. Usually there's a bad apple here and a bad apple there and you hear all the gripes. We were behind five checks, the coaches and everybody. But we have faith in the league. That's what's banded us together." The Florida Blazers were, of course, formerly situated in Alexandria, and, before that, in Washington, D.

C. Too, the original New York franchise was moved to Portland. The original Boston franchise was moved to New York, then moved to Charlotte. The SAT. ii KM Radial SSK BELTED RADIAL WHITEHALL Our Reg.

43.88-BR78x13 Plus F.E.T. 2.11 Each TALLAHASSEE 'Bama, punt!" The Auburn cry that orlginateda couple of years ago when the Tigers beat Alabama by blocking two late punts, taunts not only the Crimson Tide but other opponents as well. Florida State is particularly mindful this week as it drills for Saturday's Homecoming game at Auburn. Last week, as Georgia Tech fell 31-22, Auburn again blocked two punts, leading to a field goal and touchdown. In drills this week, the Seminoles have worked overtime to provide adequate protection for punter Joe Downey.

"THEY REALLY like to play the game," commented Coach Darrell Mudra after a look at Auburn films. "They're not all that big on defense, but they've got a lot of speed. On offense, I tell you, they're plenty big. "Auburn probably hits better than any team we've seen so far, but I promise you, we're going up there with every intention of beating them." The Seminoles have played six games and substituted very little. They may be in better position now to substitute more, and possibly gain advantage by giving some rest to front-line players.

Another thing that concerns the Seminoles is the Auburn defense, one of the nation's best. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning reiterated that he was uncertain what type of attack he would employ. "Auburn has the best total defensive package I've seen in seven years," Henning said. "It scares us to death." Henning said he hoped to come up with a game plan which "will keep us from being killed." SIZES REG, SALE FiE.T. ER78x14 51.88 31,88 258 FR78xl4 53.88 34i88 281 GR78xl4 57.88 am OQ 2.95 GR78xl5 57.88 OOiOO 3.05 HR78xl4 60.88 aa aa 3.15 HR78xl5 60.88 wOiOO 3.26 LR78xl5 65.88 39.88 360 1 JffM Tires PI us YW'4t2? ZPrFr4: F.E.T.

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