Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 13

THE CALGARY HERALD May 27, 1978 A13 Larry Wood asmussen mile short goal The last word on the rock toss Rasmussen finished 22nd in a field of 33 starters. This year Cliff Hucul of Prince George, B.C., is the lone Canadian hope in the 500. Hucul qualified his car 28th out of 33. Meanwhile, the fastest field of cars in the history 'of the Indy 500 is ready for the big race. A.J.

Foyt will be looking for a record fifth Indy 500 win, Mario Andretti will try to become the only driver ever to start last and finish first, and Janet Guthrie will be hoping to improve on her disappointing performance of a year ago when she was the first woman to compete in the event. Leading the 33-car field will be Tom Sneva, a former school teacher who set two track records in winning the pole position for On another sort of tracks at Indy, two-time Boston-Marathon champion Bill" Rodgers captured first place in the Indianapolis mini-marathon, finishing-the race in record time. Rodgers, of Boston, took 63 minutes, 43.1 seconds to cover the 13-mile-plus course that wound down from downtown Indianapolis to the finish line of the Motor Speedway. He shaved 13 seconds off the time set last year by Frank Shorter in the first Indy mini. Lacrosse game Calgary Outlaws will meet Lethbridge Ebony Hawks in a Southern Alberta Senior Lacrosse League game Sunday, 2 p.m.

at Glenmore Arena. INDIANAPOLIS Alberta-bom racing driver Eldon Rasmussen has failed to qualify for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, for the first time in three years. Rasmussen. a native of Standard, who raced out of Edmonton for several years, missed the Indy cut-off by one mile per hour. Ted Test, Rasmussen's business partner, said in a telephone interview that rain, a lack of time, and extensive work on the car body were the reasons for the failure.

"We simply did not have enough time," Test said. 'It rained for 15 days this month and we had one weekend of qualifying for everybody." Rasmussen brought his self-sponsored version of a Foyt Ford race car up to 179 miles-per-hour in test runs. A minimum of 180 mph is required to enter the final qualifying round. Test said. He added that Rasmussen needed only a few more laps to to squeeze the extra speed out of the car.

Test said the design changes Rasmussen has made to the car are "a significant improvement" which should allow him "to move into the front ranks next year" at Indy. "We've spent a very substantial amount on the car and we hope to have a major sponsor for 1979," Test said. Last year Rasmussen finished 13th in the famous road race. In 1976, his first year to qualify for the event. the second straight year.

The 29-year-old Sneva's single lap average speed of 203.620 mph in time trials eclipses his old lady record by better than three mph. His four-lap, 10-mile qualifying speed of 202.156 mph also was a new mark, as was the average speed of all 33 qualifying championship cars 192.584 mph. In addition to Foyt, who took the checkered flag here last year and in 1961, 1964 and 1967, the field includes five other past Indy champions: Andretti (1969), Johnny Rutherford (1974, 1976), Gordon Joh-ncock (1973), and the Unser brothers. Bobby (1968, 1975) and Al (1970, 1971). At least 300,000 spectators are expected at the Old Brickyard by starting time (10 a.m.

MDT). "It was a lot of curling, and I wouldn't go through it again. Providing Ed and I stay together, it shouldn't be necessary. But, initially, a team's chances are limited without that major bon-spiel exposure. Four guys require that exposure in order to establish a feeling, a sort of instinctive ability to perform as a unit.

'It was particularly beneficial to Ron Schindle. The kid was short on experience, anyway. By the end of the season, he was unbelievably proficient. As good, -in fact, as any lead I've played with. "We were fortunate in that we were able to balance the books en route to the Brier.

Our prize money and expenses handled the overhead to that point. So the CBC prize ($17,500 plus eight air tickets to anywhere serviced by the people's airline) was clear gravy." If there's one thing repulsive about travelling, it's your basic hotel bed. Maybe I'm just plain unlucky, but I haven't discovered the hotel that's heard of Beautyrest mattresses or pillows filled with something other than foam rubber. And some of my best friends are innkeepers. Michael N.

Chemoff spent 69 nights in hotel rooms this past winter. He followed the curling trail, out of town, for 2'2 months. That represents a lot of backaches, and a lot of tossing and turning, for something that isn't exactly a living. It also represents a fair amount of time away from the office. Because Chemoff's office is his own, he can afford the time.

A guy who isn't self-employed? Forget it. There have been references to 'pro' curling in recent years but it says here there's no such animal. Show me a guy MIKE CHERNOFF He's retired the last rocks In retrospect, there was a general consensus that Ed Lukowich's shooting performance began to deteriorate on the Friday night at the Brier when his team was severely maimed by Saskatchewan's Rick Folk. The whipping didn't cost Fast Eddy the Brier, but he wasn't the same authoritative thrower of the rock the next day, or at any time' in Winnipeg. "He may have looked like a guy carrying a load of pressure," recalled Mike Chemoff, "but statistics show he had the best shooting average among Silver Broom skips.

By the time he got to Moncton for the CBC, he was just good and mad. And he had the necessary shots. "But, yah, I still dream about April 1, and the game against Norway. Probably, it'll be with me for life. I wouldn't call it any different if we played it again tomorrow.

I'm satisfied we played all the percentages, even if some people don't agree. One thing, though. We'd use com straw brooms. The brushes weren't a factor at all on that ice. We were aware the ice had been flooded, and a guy always needs a game to get used to draw weight on new ice.

If you'll recall, we were drawing and the Norwegians were hitting. Their percentage of draw shots wasn't better than our's." Knocking the sudden death playoff system, as so many have, is like knocking machine labor. A waste of time. "It'll be around, no matter what," said Mike, "and we're going to see more of it, starting in some national events next year, and the Brier in 1980. And, it's not a bad system.

There's a revision required, though. The team that finishes first in the round-robin qualifying has to be given an advantage. In hockey, when the playoffs start, it's an extra game on home ice. In curling, the first-place team should automatically get last rock in the first end, or something, no matter how slight, to give credence to its preliminary record." who thinks he's a curler by profession and I'll show you a guy who's a) working on a rich inheritance, b) backed by a sugar daddy, or c) planning to apply for welfare any minute now, if he hasn't, already. In other words, in spite of a notable increase in available prize money, you can't make an everlasting living throwing rocks.

The increase in prize money corresponds directly with the swelling number of competitors. It's the old law of economics, the same axiom that governs the odds at the racetrack. The pot grows with the involvement, but it has no significant bearing on your degree of success. Mike Chemoff has had two months to sit and reflect on what transpired last season. Particularly, on what happened in the Winnipeg Arena on April Fool's Day.

His conclusion is that he had "more fun" curling last season than ever before. And ever before stretches back at least 20 years. "Mostly," he said, the other day, "because I didn't have to sweep. And because I wasn't subjected to undo wear and tear from bearing the pressure that goes with throwing the last rocks." Miraculous Mike, as he was christened during the Alberta Consols at Grande Prairie, said the fact he wasn't under the gun is the reason he is not considering retirement from the game. "There's absolutely no doubt, that if I'd been throwing last rocks I'd have been completely worn out.

Utterly exhausted. Likely, I'd have quit, right there." That's the last word on the 1978 curling wars, and Mike Chemoff will be spending the next few months worrying more about 1980 than about' 1979. That's because he's the chairman of that Calgary Brier. Meanwhile, take a lesson if you're one of those already plotting your sacrifices for next winter's curling. Messrs.

Chemoff, Lukowich, Johnston and Schindle, achieved as much prestige as any Canadian team has achieved in six years, pocketed $4,375 and a vacation each, and expended close to seven months in the process. The time was available because Cher-noff and Dale Johnston are self-employed, and because Luke and Schindle are commissioned salesman who booked off, practically, for the duration. The bottom line is, you gotta love the game and hard beds. 0 mmmn rw 111 CwIDi) As it stands now, he and Fast Eddy Lukowich will be reunited in October, at least for an expenses-paid trip to Switzerland and a shot at something called the Kronenborg Trophy. It isn't the world championship, just one of the ancillary benefits you get for qualifying.

Which brings it back to square one the long route to qualifying, and 69 nights in hotel rooms. Gals poised for rodeos 20 OFF OUR FULL LINE OF POPULAR GENERAL SUMMER PASSENGER TIRES! EXAMPLE DUAL JET JUMBO POLYJET I G(R)78-15 Si' bfSd Bl I lowfhce 7340 6040 4465 3790 sale-price 5870 4830 3570 3030 SALE ENDS ATURDAY! with the largest number from Alberta," she said. "We also have quite a few from British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and a few from Manitoba." Calgary and area competitors have dominated the gals' circuit, with Calgary boasting both the 1977 national senior and junior all- around champs in Wendy Kazakow and Pat Collins, respectively. And, Wendy's identical twin Wanda also is expected to place high in '78. Eight circuit rodeos already have been approved for this year and several others are expected to be added.

The girls compete in barrel racing, cow riding, goat tying, steer undeco-rating, calf roping and team roping. Meanwhile, Albertans continue their domination of Canadian finalist standings, according to unofficial statistics released this week by the Canadian Rodeo Cowboys' The Canadian Girls' Rodeo Association has another action-filled season slated for 1978 with Calgary and area figuring prominently in its plans. Three all-girl rodeos are scheduled for this area, the first of which goes June 18 at Black Diamond. Others are slated for the Saddle Ridge Community Centre, east of Calgary airport, on July 1 and 2, and at Cochrane later that July. "The membership is increasing every year," said CGRA publicity director Mary Burgoyne Friday.

"We had a clinic at Oko-toks near the end of March and 90 per cent of the girls there took out memberships to compete." She said membership in the association has been steadily increasing since its inception in 1967 when it evolved from the Canadian Barrel Racing Association. "Membership now stands at about 300 from across Western Canada, Following are the event leaders: ALL-AROUND 1. Tom Bews. Pekisko. 2.

Lynn Jensen. Cardston. $2,273. SADDLE BRONC 1. Glen Griffith.

Cessford. 2. Jim Kelts. Consort. 3.

Larry Johnson. High River. $2,304. BAREBACK 1. Steve Dunham.

Turner Valley, 2. Gary Logan. Sundre, 3. Dale Trottiet. Calgary.

$2,164. BULL RIDING 1. Don lohansen. Hussar, 2. Dan Lowry.

Rocky Mountain House, $3,689: 3. Tom Davies. Medicine Hat, 4. Jordie Thomson. Black Diamond, $2,251.

CALF ROPING 1. Jim Gladstone. Cardston. 2. Larry Robinson.

Innisfait. 3. Lloyd Fowlie. Blindloss, 4. Lome Wells.

Calgary. $1,847. STEER WRESTLING 1. Ben Hern. Blindloss.

$3,343: 2. Ron Ostrom. Carseland. 3 Clark SchJosser. Stavely.

$2,439: 4. Greg Butterfield. Ponoka. 5. Lloyd Fowhe, Bindloss.

$1,810. AMATEUR SADDLE BRONC 1. Keith Elliott, Edmonton, $492; 2. Duane Daines, Innisfail. $458; 3.

Lee Coleman, Pierceland. $250; 4. Jim Davies. Lacadena, $154. BOYS' STEER RIDING 1.

Barclay Brooks. Asquith. $952; 2. Bruce Kostelansky, Leth-bridae. $829; 3.

Lonni Edwards, Pritc-hard. B.C.. $695; 4 Keith Ullery. Cochrane. $578.

GENERAL TIRE 4504 BLACKF00T TRAIL S.E. 243-4266 GO WHERE THE GENERALS ARE AND SAVE.