The Lincoln Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • Page 26

Athletes Killed With A Little Help From Their 'Friends' By BILL GLEASON Chicago Sun Times Writer Chicago Another wonderful thing the Wonderful World of Sports is at new awards always are being es- bhshed to keep forever green the emories of our heroes. it nice? We can expect the National Basketball isn to establish soon the "Joe Fulks eniorial trophy Along about the same me we fans will be reading about the iternationa! Ski Kacers Assn. "Vladimir ibich trophy. In case you missed the news Fulks, the BA's first scoring champion, dribbled off the big fieldhouse in the sky early Sun- ly morning Joe left us not so many hours Sabich, the colorful Spider of m- mational ski racing, sUd away on the Mi sWom. The thing about it is that neither Fulks nor Sabich wanted to go.

Fulks was only 54 Spider was no more than 31 Between them they had a lot of years left. They were dispatched. The circumstances of their departures are the reasons why these new trophies will be just a Uttle bit different. Fulks undoubtedly had a roomful of awards, most of them topped with heroic basketball figures in various poses Sabich. too, earned many gold-plated skiers surrounded by wreaths of laurel That kind of stuff hi going out of style For example, the Fulks Memorial will be topped not by a basketball player but by crossed shotguns against a field of blue- steel automatics The Sabich memorial will not feature stacked metal skis but will come right to the dramatic point with Lugers arranged in the shape of a Opinion Fulks, a good big boy from Kuttaway, was shot to death Sunday in EddyviUe, Ky.

Sabich, an extroverted playboy from Kyburz, was shot to death in Aspen, Colo According to the first report from police down Lyon County, Kentucky, Fulks was killed while he was arguing with a younger fellow about a handgun Joe assailant didn't use the handgun, though He unloaded on neck with a shotgun. According to the first report from police out in Pitkin County, Colo Sabich was shot to death while he and his cohabitator. retired singer Claudine Longet, were doing something or other with a Luger The man accused of slaying Fulks has been charged with murder The woman arrested in the death of Sabich has not been charged with anything, as this was going to press. It probably will be discovered that the gun that fired a fatal bullet into Sabich discharged when he slipped on a pile of Alpine mow he had been saving as a souvenir Fulks who introduced the jump shot to pro basketball and Sabich, World Pro Ski champion in WO and 71, were citizens of the When I read of their deaths, 1 thought, curiously, of politicians. 1 know politicians.

Many of them are sensitive At parties, after everybody has had a few pops, a politician, sometimes with tear in eye, will ask, "Why do so many of our young people hate all politicians? Why do they blame me for Watergate?" These maudlin questions, or variations on the same melancholy themes, are put to me because recent polls show that newspapermen are popular but politicians are not Because I hate to have grown men slobbering on my obublekmt, I attempt to explain not I tell the pols things like all the polls indicating that most American citizens want strong handgun control legislation but Congress give the people what they want Congress gives the National Rifle Assn what it wants, instead "You think being paid off by the National Rifle Assn do you?" a politician asked me, fighting back fresh tears. Nawww, I said, patting his damp jowls. the young people think somebody is paying off somebody else how young people are When the Fulks and Sabich trophies are presented, maybe we can have a few words from a lobbyist for die NRA He could bring words of assurance to the loved ones of Fulks and Sabich, who were killed not by thugs on the street or by home invaders but died in the company of friends," The man from the NRA, who was fo with his recent victory in Congress, might tell the parents ami children of Fulks and the parents of Sabich that guns kill people As we've been told until we re sick of it, people kill people. Sports Signals By Bob Owens Star Sports Editor Winningest NCAA Field Philadelphia The four teams in the NCAA basketball championship tournament to be played in The Spectrum here Saturday and Monday have won a combined total of 111 games this season an all-time high in the 38-year history of the event. That tops the previous best of 105 victories set in 1968 and tied in 1972.

The combined winning percentage of .917 (111-10), however, a record. The 1970 foursome of UCLA, Jacksonville, New Mexico State and St. Bonaventure had a .945 average (103-6). Should Rutgers win the title for a 33-0 record, the Scarlet Knights would break the all-time record for victories in a perfect season (32-0) by Frank 1957 North Carolina team. Indiana can tie that record by winning 26-4 record is the best in all of head coach Gene head coaching career which includes 256 victories and a 640 career percentage.

His previous high was 24-6 at Memphis State in 1973. Even so, UCLA must win the championship to avoid having its worst won-lost record in ten years. one way of measuring the impossibility of replacing John Wooden. Wooden, who retired after last season, won eight NCAA crowns in his last nine vears and his worst record in that span was 26-4 in 1974. UCLA has made it to the final game ten times and won all ten times.

The Bruins' record in the tourney is 50-10. This is their 10th consecutive trip to the final four and 13th in 17 tournaments. The Bruias have won 47 of their last 48 NCAA tourney games. a record that probably never will be equaled. Knight Might Threaten At age 35, Indiana coach Bobby Knight may be the youngest major college head coach ever to pass the 200 victory mark.

His 11- year career record is 225-70, including a 133-20 figure in five seasons at Indiana. No one has a complete list of all coaches in history who won 200 and their birth dates, but it seems likely Knight holds this distinction, for two reasons: Few men have started head-coaching on a major level at 24, and in the early years of the game, teams often even play 20 games in a season. Knight has averaged 20.5 wins a season over 11 years. And so far no one has found a coach who reached 200 victories at the major leval at age 35. What are the chances of an overtime final game? In the first 37 years, there were only four overtime games Utah over Dartmouth 42-40 in 1944, North Carolina over Kansas 54-53 in 1957 (that went three overtimes), Cincinnati over Ohio State 70-65 in 1961 and Chicago Loyola over Cincinnati 60-58 in 1963.

Saturday victories by Indiana and Michigan would lead to an all-Big Ten championship game. That would be the first time that two teams from the same conference met in the title game. There is a precedent for the Indiana-UCLA rematch of a season-opening Hoosier victors 84-64 in St. Louis. Two years ago, North Carolina State lost a nationally televised game to UCLA in the same arena by 8446.

Then the Wolfpack won in two overtimes at Greensboro 80-77 to end incredible 38-game winning streak in NCAA tourney play. An NCAA basketball crown and a football bowl victory in the same school year has happened only five times One involved Oklahoma State in 1945 after winning over TCU in the Cotton Bowl It would happen again if UCLA wins. The Brums beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl on Jan 1 Sliding Into A New Season AP WIREPMOTO Pittsburgh Pirates A1 Oliver toes the ball out of the glove of Chicago White Sox shortstop Don Deidholz in the first inning of exhibition game. The White Sox rallied from a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning and won 6-2. Scott Tosses Discus Hopes On Beaver By RANDY YORK Prep Sports Editor Having been Lincoln track coach for 23 years.

Harold Scott the type to put a monkey on back. He can dream though and he wait for a nice, clear day this spring when John Beaver throws the discus somewhere between 190 and 200 feet very serious," says Scott. "Maybe I'm all wet, but the conditions are going to be just right sometime this season and John is going to get one out there dose to 200 feet." If he does, the Lincoln High senior will become all-time leader in the discus. Scottsbluff's Gary Kellogg owns the best effort 188-3 in 1969 Beaver, the defending gold medalist in the event, has plenty to prove. Last season's best of 172-11 quality him for a spot on the all-time charts.

His gold medal performance in the state track meet last May was 172-8, which bettered his closest challenger by 8 feet. 6 inches. Has Thrown 171-2 He's off to a good start already this notes Scott. "Last Saturday in our inter-class meet. John got off a throw of 171-2 had a couple throws around 176 and even throw 170 on a bad day." It all adds up to great expectations for Beaver, a 6-2, 215- mm John Beaver Sights Set High pounder who also achieved 53-6 in the shot put in Lincoln High's inter-class competition last weekend.

"I thmk John has proven one of the greatest discus throwers Nebraska's ever had." says Scott. "Of course, he can always hurt an elbow But when that wind happens to be just right, look out." Scott says good coaching is responsible for much of Beaver's success, even though the veteran head coach refuses to take individual credit. Good Coaching "In all honesty," Scott says, "John got sound fundamental coaching from his dad (Clark) and gotten good coaching from Bill Story, our weight coach worked hard on lifting weights and has the strength and speed to get the type of whip he needs on the discus." adds Scott. "His speed is amazing for an athlete of his size," according to Scott importantly, a very fine young man, who works hard and keeps his mouth shut." Although Beaver also excels in football, his athletic ticket to the future seems best in track. "If he gets that super throw this spring and competes as consistently as he did last year with better marks," predicts Scott, "he ought to land a major college scholarship All-Time Leaders, Page 31 Indiana To Play Michigan Mittermaier Sooners' Bliss Predicts Wins Slalom HUNTER MOUNTAIN, (AP) Rosi Mittermaier, making perhaps her last official appearance as an amateur skier, won the women giant slalom Tuesday at the World Series of Skung.

The 25-year-old West German, weanng the pants she tore on a flag at Mont Ste Anne, Que, last week, snaked down the course in 1 minute 19 58 seconds, edging Hanm Wenzel of Liechtenstein, who clocked 1:19 75. Miss Mittermaier, the 1976 World Cup women's champion, was swamped by autograph seekers both young and old- after her winning run The double gold medal winner at the 12th Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck last month said the course, softened by the bright afternoon sun, "was not too good. It was very flat Following Miss Wenzel was Fabienne Serrat of France in 1:20.33, Irene Epple of West Germany 1:2121 and Lise- Marie Morerod of Switzerland, the World Cup giant slalom champion, in 1:21 92 The victory by Miss maier. coupled with the fourth- place limsh of Miss Epple, set up a duel in this team competition between the West Germans and the Swiss. In the giant slalom, which preceded the women's run, Heini Hemnu of Switzerland finished first in 2 29 69 for two runs and teammate Ernst Good finished fourth in 2 31 28 Their finishes and the seventh- place finish of Peter Luescher gave Switzerland 15 points in this competition.

By FRANK BOGGS Oklahoma City Times OKLAHOMA CITY-Oklahoma basketball coach Dave Bliss, who earned his degree in business at Cornell in 1967 and his doctorate in basketball at Indiana a couple of years ago, says Prof. Robert Knight's team will play Michigan next Monday night in the national finals Bliss thinks that because he thinks Michigan will sideline unbeaten Rutgers and because he thinks Indiana will knock off UCLA in semis in However, Indiana's success will not come with ease The Hoosiers have soundly thrashed UCLA once this season and soundly edged Michigan two times Basketball coaches have long voiced the theory that ternbiy difficult for one team to beat another three times per same year. Why this is has never been clear to me, but the world if full of examples Mr. Bliss has one recently example still wedged into furrowed brow. His Sooners defeated Iowa State twice, but stumbled the third try.

I guess it must be similar to trying to spank the kid forever. The man may win over 600 consecutive events, then one shocking day the offspring swings back and the man starts making bigger payments to his dentist than he ever did to General Motors. Bliss served as right-hand man for four years before moving way out to Oklahoma last season In fact, he often used his right hand to keep the boss, from committing mayhem when situations became tense. Dave Bliss NCAA Prophet Naturally, Bliss is not going to predict now or forever that a Bobby Knight team will lose a battle. He is simply saying Indiana will defeat UCLA because of two good reasons.

Hoosiers have beaten the Brums only once this season (84-64) and not twice and, Knight is not going to lose to anybody when he has a full week to prepare." This year's Indiana team is facing a situation not unlike one year ago. That Hoosier team had walloped Kentucky in December. 98-74. then suffered its only defeat against Kentucky in the regional finals, 92-90 Bliss believes Marquette coach A1 McGuire intended to earn himself a second technical foul last Saturday during the loss to Indiana. "It was really a hopeless cause when he got that last technical," says Bliss, I think he was trying to get something going in desperation.

It was like a guy being a couple of shots behind in a golf match and so he hits a wood out of the sand trap, hoping for a Evert Streak Ends After 20 Matches BOSTON (UPI) Unheraled Dianne Froinholtz, 19, of Australia, seemingly headed for defeat, roared back to win eight straight games Tuesday night to upset top-seeded Chris Evert, 26, 6-2, 6-3, in the opening round 175,000 Virginia Slims of Boston tennis tournament. The loss snapped Evert's laest win streak at 20 matches She had not lost since Jan 18 when she was upended by Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia in Houston. Fromholtz has never beaten Evert, the top-ranked woman player in the world, in three previous meetings. Froinholtz, who called the victory high point in my career," was down 0-2 in the second set when she exploded with a barrage of sharply angled service returns and ground strokes. She swept the next eight games to go ahead 20 in the final set and served out the match.

She later told reporters Billy Jean King had advised her to stay back and rally with Evert from the baseline "I stayed back and tried to break down her baseline game I tried to be the aggressor It's only a first round match, but it was a high point in my career," she said. Evert, 21, has not lost a first round match since 1971, before turning pro. Evert, who said she "was not tournament tough" after a two- week layoff, had nothing but praise for Fromholtz "She played so well, she never let me in the said Evert. "She took everything on the rise and turned them into winners. She never let up She used her head tonight." Earlier, second seeded Evonne Goolagong breezed by Peggy Michel of Pacific Palisades, Calif, 6-4, 6-0, and sixth- seeded Marita Redondo of San Diego, Calif, easily defeated Laura Dupont of Matthews, 6-1, 6-2 Goolagong took just 33 minutes to eliminate Michel and held her to just seven points in the second set Osborne To Growl Continues At Bear BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

(UPI) Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne retracting any of the criticism he leveled at Alabama's Bear Bryant or the Sugar Bowl last winter I meant what I said and I stand behind it," Osborne said Monday night at the Birmingham Touchdown Club's Award Banquet "I said the bowls should make their own selections. But I want to make one thing very he added "I have great respect for Coach Bryant and his program My comment was made to a Sugar Bow! official and certainly was not meant for publication. certainly don't believe in calling other coaches names in the press, and I felt bad about that. But 1 said Osborne was quoted as calling Bryant a "son of a buck" after the Sugar Bowl bypassed his Cornhuskers and picked Penn State to face Alabama in the New Year Eve classic in New Orleans. Osborne said he believes the Southeastern Conference made a mistake signing a contract to send its champion to the Sugar Bowl each year, adding that some officials of the Big Eight Conference have had second thoughts about their pact with the Orange Bowl Tom Osborne Still Unhappy "I believe the majority of coaches in the Big Eight are concerned about the tie-up," he said.

"It certainly worked to our detriment at Nebraska last season." Instead of going to one of the major bowls, the Cornhuskers wound up playing in the Fiesta Bowl The Governor Award, which goes each year to the winner of the Alabama- Auburn game, was presented to Alabama assistant head coach Sam Bailey and the Benny Marshall Award for the outstanding player in the game was given Crimson Tide quarterback Kichard Todd, Olympic Security Increase MONTREAL (AP) A military and police security force will be deployed to guard against a Munich-type disaster at the Summer Olympic Games opening July 17 at Montreal and Kingston, it was announced Tuesday. Police and military officers made their first joint public disclosure of security measures to protect an estimated 12,000 athletes and team officials plus 500.000 visitors, dignitaries and spectators during the Games The security and intelligence officers declined any flat prediction that there would be no problems or even terrorist attacks such as the one which occurred when Arab terrorists slaughtered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Gaines Anything and everything is said Maj Gen Roland A. Reid, chief of Olympic coordination for the National Defense Department 1 We are confident we are doing all that is possible to make sure that the Games will take place without Reid reported 16,000 members of Canada armed forces will be assigned in one way or another to Olympic duties, including 5,000 on security duties. The theme of a discreet and efficient" security operation was outlined by Roger Rousseau, president of the Olympic Organizing Committee which is responsible ror staging the Games. Guy Toupm, the key security commander as coordinator for public safety for the Games, outlined an elaborate organizational structure involving the federal government as well as the governments of Quebec and Ontario and municipal administrations Gen Reid said the contribution of the Canadian armed earlier at roughly come to 16.000 although only 5.650 will be on direct security duty The security operation would involve 9,000 men counting command echelons, communications, administrative and logistic support Another 5.000 would be employed in helping the Olympic Organizing Committee stage the Games themselves Still another 1,000 members of the armed forces would be working full-ume during the Games, counting personnel at national defense headquarters, Mobile Command, Air Command, Maritime Command and the National Reserve The armed forces would, in addition, maintain standby forces to be deployed if required "Public security will remain the responsibility of police forces as it is at any other time, Reid emphasized "In all cases where military servicemen will be deployed on security tasks, such military forces will be in support of police forces The general would not comment on "science fiction' reports of what anti-terrorism weaponery might be in he did point out that the "whole range of armed forces weapons would be available Mr Rousseau said theisraeh athletes would be lodged with other competitors in the 19-story Olympic Village, not separated from them on the top floor but "certainly not near other countries that might create difficulties Officials said Canadian authorities are seeking cooperation not only from United States agencies but also from all 130 countries eligible to send athletes to the Games One intelligence officer said attacks are more Ukely against visitors than against Canadians Security and intelligence activity would be particularly intense when Queen Elizabeth opens the Games July 17..