The Courier du lieu suivant : Waterloo, Iowa • 43

I Iowa's Fry: It's a jungle out there Academic struggles often can be traced to inner city environments By JIM SULLIVAN who finally passed his ACT college ers on their team and Miami had nine. Olejniczak is being a little modest. As i ers on their team and Miami had nine. Their coach (Dennis Erickson) told me 16 could've been out, and I believe him. It Courier entrance examination on the fifth try.

Asked about Richardson's chances of staying eligible this fall, Fry said, "He'll probably be on the dean's list. He's a smart quarterback, he passed for 901 yards and rushed for 890 more during his senior season at Decorah. At defensive back, he made 91 tackles and picked off five passes Kevin Evan Sports Editor Doug Newhoff Assistant Sports Editor Section PageEl kid his high school didn't do a good job of preparing him like Willie Guy." Speaking of Guy, Fry said it's unlikely he'll use him as strictly a kick returner in 1991. "We don't want him to lose a year of eligibility just for that," he said. a Bob Bowlsby, Courier Sports Writer IOWA CITY If you want to recruit football players in some of American's biggest cities, bring a machete it's a jungle out here.

Iowa coach Hayden Fry offered that piece of sociology at Thursday's media day while explaining why some of his young Hawkeyes have struggled academically. Fry laid part of the blame on the inner city schools and the environment surrounding them. "I've been to one school three times," Fry said. "There are six uniformed policemen on the steps of the high school. They're there to keep the pushers from going inside to sell their goods.

"You can't believe the environment it's a jungle in certain cities of America. It exists, although it's hard to imagine. If these kids don't have sports, what do they do? Get in trouble." Fry said all of this while discussing two of his newer players Burt Richardson and Willie Guy. Richardson is a 6-3, 235-pound freshman linebacker out of Rochester N.Y. whom Fry labeled as a player to watch this fall.

He did not participate in spring drills because of academic problems. Guy, of course, is the promising freshman wide receiver from Memphis, Tenn, was obvious those guys could run by us backward and forward "Guys like to combine both sports and I don't blame them. They want to run for a great track program. I'm not blaming our coach (Ted Wheeler). I don't know how many fast runners we have in the Big Ten, but it's obvious we're not very fast." Fry said conference schools have no more than four of five potential sprinters and "we've been fortunate to have one or two." Jason Olejniczak, said Fry, "is one of the best we have, as far as raw athletic ability is concerned." Apparently, the Decorah High School graduate is also a pretty good impressionist.

A few years ago, Olejniczak played the role of Eric'Hunter, Purdue's quarterback, with the scout team. The idea was to give Iowa's defense an glimpse of the problems a mobile, scrambling quarterback would present in a game. "That was about all I could do as a high school quarterback scramble," Olejniczak said, laughing. "They (the coaching staff) put me back there so the defense could work on not letting the quarterback out of the pocket. It was a lot of fun, taking the snap (from center) again." in his final year as a Viking.

Decorah posted a 31-2 mark and won a pair of Class 3A titles during Olejniczak's prep career. Now, after playing baseball instead of spring football, he's not listed on Iowa's depth chart at defensive back. But Fry expects Olejniczak to start climbing. "He'll be right in the race for a No. 1 position in the defensive secondary before the second or third ballgame," Fry said.

MORE NOTES The youngest Hartlieb won't pass the football, he'll rush the passer at Iowa. John Hartlieb, brother of ex-Hawkeye quarterback Chuck and current backup passer Jim, is listed on the depth chart at defensive end behind Leroy Smith. "Another blue chipper," said Fry of the 6-2, 230-pound redshirt freshman. Jason Dumont and Maurea Crain, both defensive ends a year ago, have been moved to tackle and nose guard, respectively. Fry said he will know by next week if any players will be lost to academic problems.

"The final report will come in Aug. 20 or Aug. 21," Fry said. "Nobody is out at this point." Fry ft said Hayden Fry, take your blocks. No, Iowa's football coach didn't order his new athletic director to run a 100-meter dash.

However, Fry said he discussed with Bowlsby one of the reasons why Iowa can't recruit the speediest ballplayers in the country the lack of a good track program. "I told the new A.D. (Bowlsby) that we won't have great speed until we have a great track program," Fry said. "The guys from the sunshine states want to run track. Washington had something like 12 sprint- OOO DAN NIERLINGCourler photo editor Willie Guy Wild hair annoys Yankee brass, but not others New 'Guy' draws crowd By DOUG NEWHOFF Assistant Sports Editor II OWA CITY Willie Guy just might be the Umost heralded recruit to ever wear the Iowa Hawkeyes' proud black and gold football colors.

lineup against Chicago after the two sides were able to settle their differences. In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds have had a personal grooming code for 20 years, but it doesn't split any hairs. The Reds don't allow facial hair but hair length is left up to the manager. That's it. Some pitchers fail to shave between starts sometimes and end up pitching with some stubble, but the club hasn't objected.

The Braves apparently are more worried about clipping the Dodgers' lead in the NL West than the heads of their players. Like all teams the Braves want the tribe to look neat manager Bobby Cox casually mentioned to reliever Mike Stanton that he needed a haircut about 10 Hays ago and Stanton complied but there's no set code. Dodgers' Public Relations Director Jay Lucas said the team has no policy on hair length. But the Dodgers generally are a clean-cut bunch anyway, with the likes of Orel Hershiser, Brett Butler and Darryl Strawberry though there's still Tim Belcher, who always looks like he needs a shave, to carry on the Kirk Gibson tradition. In the AL, the Boston Red Sox have what they call a "flexible" policy, but nothing really concrete.

The Minnesota Twins don't have a policy, according to team spokesman Gordon Getowski. That's evident every time outfielder Dan Gladden takes the field with his ponytail dangling neatly down his neck. "It's just the kind of thing where the players know what they have to do," Getowski said. "It's not an issue around here." See HAIRE2 By The Associated Press Holy hairbrains! Has the Joker returned to Gotham? Yankees team captain Don Mattingly benched because he won't cut the now-bristling bristles dangling down the back of his neck? Hair an issue in the 90s? It's a joke, right? Not if you play in the renovated Bronx Zoo. An informal survey conducted Friday by The Associated Press found that few major league teams have established policies on hair, and those that do don't get their dander up like the Yankees did Thursday when they told Mattingly, Matt Nokes and Pascual Perez to cut up or sit down.

Mattingly was benched Thursday after declining to get a haircut, but he and his unshorn locks were in Friday's night's starting For two years, Hawkeye fans have heard the phenom from Memphis referred to as a game- breaker, an impact player and a blue-chipper the type of player who can bring a Kinnick Stadium crowd to its feet every time he touches the football. TF Well, the wait is over. Thursday afternoon on Iowa's practice field, Guy was No. 1 at the Hawkeyes' annual media day. Although he has never fielded a punt, streaked under a Matt Rodgers pass or even played a down in a college football game, he AP PHOTO Don Mattingly was back in the Yankees' lineup Friday, even though he refused to get a haircut.

brought a crowd of reporters to its feet with the simplest of routes Thursday. He needed no fancy moves to score an audi ence of 20 reporters, nor did he make any effort to Mets have become mired in a muddled mess elude them. He met his first challenge as a Hawk' eye head-on. Originally, Coach Hayden Fry expected his prized recruit in camp last fall, but Guy couldn't make the grade academically. Four times he failed to pass his ACT exam before finally succeeding.

All the while, he remained committed. Willie Guy wanted to be a Hawkeye as much as Fry and his staff wanted Guy to wear the black and gold. There was never any doubt I wanted to come back here," says Guy, who took six weeks of classes at Iowa over the summer. "It was the people in general and the players. It's not hard to fit in when all the guys care about you like they do here." As a high school senior in Memphis, house and his home runs on the field.

Many of the changes made by Cashen, Harazin and former vice president of operations Joe Mctl-vaine were to build the team around Gregg Jefferies, the two-time minor league player of the year. So far, neither Jefferies nor the moves have worked out. "Seems to me he can't handle the pressure," Strawberry told the Daily News. "They thought he could carry them when I left, but Jefferies is too worried about his hitting, always crying about some slump he's in." The Mets are now a team with little chemistry in the clubhouse and several players unaware of their role. "Maybe this will shock some people into making some drastic changes," said one Met, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

"It's clear this club, as it is right now, can't win. There's going to be a shakeup." The club Cashen skillfully built into a World Series champion in 1986, gained a reputation as being bright, bold and brassy. Slowly that image was chipped away until the Mets turned from fudge ripple supreme to pure vanilla. Even though the Mets are the winningest club in baseball since 1984, they are a Bill Buckner error away from not even having a ring to show for it When Davey "Johnson no longer fitted Cashen's managerial image, he was fired and replaced by Bud Harrelson. At the time, Cashen called Harrelson "the heart and soul of the Mets." Harrelson will probably stay on this season only because Cashen now realizes the Mets are too far back for a change to make any difference.

"By not making a move, Cashen is giving up on the team that he said was good enough to win the National League East," appropriate. After a 10-game winning streak in early July, the Mets were 15 games over .500. But New York went into Saturday's game at Pittsburgh with a 57-58 record, having lost 20 of its last 24 games and 10 in a row on the road. True, few picked the Mets to win the division. But their total collapse in every area of the game was also unexpected.

In eight consecutive losses to' the Chicago Cubs, the Mets averaged two runs and seven hits. It was the first time they had lost two four-game series to one team in a season since the Dodgers did it in 1963. "It's frustrating to watch the whole team disintegrate," pitcher Frank Viola said. Where it all started to fall apart is difficult to pinpoint, but it seems to have something to do with the front office trying to change the club's personality. NEW YORK (AP) The New York Mets' dynasty that never was has come crashing down.

Just who's to blame? The fans have turned against the manager and management, and some of the players are ready to bail out, too. Somewhere along the line, general manager Frank Cashen lost his touch and now the Mets are losing their grip and falling fast in the National League East. Few picked the Mets to win the division this season, so why all the fuss, anyway? It's not as if the Mets are asking anyone to get a haircut or something. "Almost no one picked us to win the National League East this year," Mets executive vice president Al Harazin said. "We're disappointed at where we are, certainly." Disappointed is quickly becoming an understatement in describing the Mets' season.

Disaster or debacle might be more Howie Rose, who hosts the Mets' pre- and postgames shows, told his listeners Wednesday. "It seems like a contradiction to me." The New York Daily News has already called for the firing of Harrelson and Cashen. Who knows, maybe the entire team is next on their hit list. Nobody is saying that Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Ray Knight, Wally Backman and Ron Darling could still be helping the club. But Cashen's critics say he went out of his way to build a team without personality.

An outfield of Kevin Mitchell, Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry doesn't look too bad right now. "All the moves we made were to help the club win," Cashen said. "It's ridiculous to think we would trade a player who would make us better." Cashen's biggest blunder may turn out to be not signing Strawberry. The club has been lost without his presence in the club Guy displayed 4.3 speed in the 40 as a quarterback and defensive back. He rushed for 1,202 yards and 1 7 TDs and passed for another 627.

He veraged 37 yards per punt return and returned four kicks for touchdowns. Guy was a USA Today first-team All-Ameri can, Tennessee's Mr. Football, a Super Prep Ail-American and the Dallas Times-Herald's No. 1 prospect in the country. Now, he a newly turned 20-year-old who missed a year of football and is uncertain of his prospects for 1991.

It all puts a lot of expectations on my shoul ders," admits Guy. "But Coach Fry says he's going to give me all the time I need. I'm not looking for any expectations for me as far as doing this or doing that. I'm going to work as hard as I can and take it one day at a time." Guy will play wide receiver and return kicks for Diamonds' Gash making up for lost time the Hawkeyes, so in addition to making up for the year he lost, he also is learning a new position. I was looking forward to playing, and then the fact that I couldn't play right away I'd be waiting for the test to come back and it'd take so long," he recalled.

"I'd be ready to pad up one day and the next day they'd say I couldn't play. It was real frustrating. I need to work on getting back into shape and running routes, he continues. "I a utile heavier right now (about 195 pounds). We ran times the other day and I ran like a 4.6." Guy isn expecting to dominate in the Big Ten.

Take punt returns, for example. and that I could keep playing," Gash said. "So I quit baseball and became a world-class beer-drinker. After two years of going to school and drinking beer I was bored and decided to play baseball my senior year." After his senior season at Middle Tennessee, Gash was again drafted, this time by the Padres in the 32nd round. He played the short season at Spokane (Wash.) of the rookie league last year before coming to the Diamonds this season.

A recent spiritual change has dramatically affected Gash's life. "I'm proud to say I've committed my life to Christ," Gash said. "I can't explain how much better life is now. Every day is a sunny See GASH E3 By RICK INGEBRITSON Courier Sports Writer Darius Gash has something to piove. "I've gotten a late start on my career and at 24, people may say I'm probably maxing out or I'm past my time," Gash said.

"I think you're only as old as you make yourself and I think I have a lot left. I just need to keep working hard and keep turning heads." Gash is the starting centerfield-er for the Waterloo Diamonds, a job he has held since the Padres' Gass A farm club began its season four months ago. Gash has been the one constant on a team that though successful, has endured several injuries and player moves. Gash has led the Midwest League in batting for mflch of the season and is cur rently hitting .315, second to Brandon Wilson of South Bend. A switch-hitter, Gash currently leads the league in both hits and runs.

Gash also leads the Diamonds in stolen bases and runs-batted-in. His RBI total of 54 is surprising, considering he has only four home runs on the season and has batted leadoff for all but a handful of games. The catalyst for the Southern Division-leading Diamonds, Gash is in his first full season of professional baseball. After graduating from high school in Cleveland, in 1985, Gash enrolled at Roan State Community College where he enjoyed two outstanding seasons as a centerfielder. So impressed by the 5-foot-9 out fielder, the New York Yankees drafted him in the 19th round of the amateur draft "It was exciting to get drafted, but we couldn't agree on a contract and I decided to go on to school," Gash said.

So, he enrolled at Middle Tennessee State where he suffered through his biggest disappointment in baseball. During practice at MTS, Gash suffered a torn muscle in his rib cage. The injury, however, was diagnosed only as a sprain by the team trainer and Gash continued to practice. A week after the injury, Gash decided to have the injury examined and learned it was a tear. "I became bitter when they told me it was a tear because our trainer said it was only a sprain In high school, it was a little bit easier than it will be in college," he explains.

"In high school the other guys weren't really that fast Here, you've got guys with 4.3 speed coming in to tack- you. In the final analysis, however, Guy is glad to be 9 i ay. getting on with his college career. If his progress dictates that he redshirt a year, he says he can accept that I don think Coach rry would put anybody Darius Gash out there who didn't know what he was doing. I know I don't want to go out there without knowing what I'm doing.".