The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 10

10 The Index -Journal Thursday January 6, 1983 IBaseball player, 2tf, to play football at HJSC good and the bad side of the major leagues and pro baseball. After a while, it wasn't fun anymore, f'm ready to turn my life in a different direction." Sofield was not a star in the big leagues. He was at times a regular, playing 130 games for the Twins in 1380 and hitting .247 with nine home runs. He was recently traded to the Texas Rangers, but he insists the trade wasn't what promp-. ted him to retire from base-tall.

"There were a few final straws," he said. "It wasn't one final thing; it was a lot of things. I made good money playing baseball and I saw some good things. But not everyone makes $4,5 million. I enjoyed baseball and I worked hard.

But money is not everything. I'm looking to be happy. He says he has good memories about his baseball and has made good friends, but he's not a big baseball fan anymore. COLUMBIA (AP Can a 26-year-old former major league baseball player find happiness as a quarterback on a college football team? Rick Sofield, who played center field for the Minnesota Twins and toiled nine years as a professional baseball player, thinks so. As a matter of fact, the speedy, 6-1, 193-pound Morristown, N.J., native is willing to gamble a great to begin a new athletic life.

"I haven't signed anything, but I'm going to," Sofield said in a phone interview Wednesday. "I'm-looking forward to it. The opportunity at South Carolina is too good to pass up." Sofield. will enroll at USC Jan. 15.

He plans to sign grant-in-aid with the Gamecocks in the next few days. "In some peoples' eyes, it's a radical change," Sofield admitted. "But it's not in mine. I've been playing pro ball- nine years, nearly three in the majors. I've seen the just a matter of getting into football again.

I've been throwing for a month and I'm confident. I'm going to compete and try to win the quarterback job at South Carolina." Sofield also talked with Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State before deciding on South Carolina. He thinks his age will be an asset. And he says his baseball experience will be. "My baseball experience has helped me quite a bit," he said.

"I've played before thousands of people in the big leagues, so 70,000 in football won't bother me. I think I'm very poised. I'm prepared in a lot of ways it's just a mat- ter of getting back into football again. It'll take a lot of hard work, but that doesn't bother me. It took a lot of hard work to get to the major leagues in 'baseball.

It will be a switch from baseball, but Sofield welcomes the change. "I want to be happy," he said. "I wasn't happy uYbase-ball anymore. I'm ready to try something else." A versatile ref "I don't care for some of the things that go on behind the scenes. It's a business at the major league level," he said.

"I've seen guys making $200,000 a year all of a sudden released and making nothing. I've seen tears coming from grown men's- eyes. 'How am I going to feed my they ask. "Ever since the strike was over, it seems like the owners don't care what happens to anybody. I just think there are other things in life." Sofield said he's glad to have the chance at South-Carolina.

South Carolina coach Joe Morrison was impressed with Sofield when he led a Morristown prep team to an 11-0 record. Morrison, then head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga, saw a number of Sofield's games while recruiting his teammates. Sofield was sought by Michigan, Alabama, Penn State and Ohio State and 'eventually signed a letter of intent with Michigan. In 1975, Sofield was the 13th overall pick in the annual baseball draft. He took the money and immediately began playing baseball.

"I don't think my football skills have rusted," said Sofield, who hasn't played the game since 1975. "I've been playing center field in the big leagues. Those guys hit the ball awful hard into the gaps and you have to run to get it. When you go from second to home on Ellis Valentine or Fred Lynn, you have to be motoring. And I've thrown out a few runners.

"The basic skills of running and throwing have been there. I'm in good shape; it's Although Frank Hill is best known in local circles as head coach of the Emerald Junior High city championship football team, he also spends time on the other side of the whistle. Hill is seen here refereeing the Southside girls' JV basketball team against Gray Court Owings last night, while Southside's Kelly Davis looks down-court. The Lady Rebels lost the game, 30-16. (Staff photo by Vance Cariaga).

World Free passed around Browns linebacker named defensive rookie of year BEREA, Ohio (AP) Linebacker" Chip Banks, who stormed into the National Football League with three sacks in his first game and brought a new confidence to the Cleveland Browns defense, has been honored as the league's top defensive rookie. Banks, the third player chosen in the NFL's 1982 college draft, was named Defensive Rookie of the Year Wednesday by The Associated Press. The former Southern Cal standout received 30 of the 84 votes cast nationwide by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. "Since I've gotten into the game, I've prided myself on being a big hitter," Banks said. "It was instilled in high school (Laney High School in Augusta, Ga If you're going to be a linebacker, you've got to be a big hitter." Banks was drafted behind defensive lineman Kenneth Sims of New England and Southside JV boys win, girls lose Southside Junior High School 's JV basketball teams split with Gray Court last night, jm The Southside boys won 28-21.

The Gray Court girls won 30-16. Both Southside teams now have 1-2 records. Their next games are Monday at Northside. The girls play at 5 p.m., the boys at 6. BOYS' GAME Gray Court XI Barksdale Griffin 6.

Mahan 4, Neil 2, Logan 2, Thomas 1. Southside a Stacey Palmore 10, John Williams 6, Reggie Gilchrist 4, Stevie Scurry 4, Jeff Lawson 2, Casey Palmore 2. GIRLS' GAME Gray Court T. Thomas 10, -D. Irby 9, L.

Madden 3, S. Burn-side 3, B. Pressley 2, S. Neal 2, L. Jefferson 1.

Southside 1 Tracy Kelley 6, Dale Baylor 4, Kelly Davis 3, Kim Hackett 2, Sharon Jones 1. S.C. State defeats St. Xavier ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) Tony Ashford, in his first start of the season, scored 24 points to lead South Carolina State to a 92-83 win over injury riddled St.

Xavier of Chicago Wednesday night. Ashford had 18 of his points after intermission when the Bulldogs extended a 44-41 halftime lead. S.C. State improved its record to 4-3 with the win. The St.

Xavier Cougars, who had only seven players dressed out, dropped to Scott Bogard had a game-high 36 points, including 21 in the first 20 minutes to lead the Cougars. The Bulldogs broke to a 21-6 lead in the first six minutes of the contest, but St. Xavier pulled back to within seven points at 29-22 at the 10 minute mark of the first half on the shooting of Bogard and David Reed, who finished with 18 points. The Cougars capitalized on 33 personal fouls by the Bulldogs for 25 points at the charity stripe. Reginald Harper had 15 points and Mike Pomorski added 12 points for St.

Xavier. Ashford was followed in the scoring column for the Bulldogs by Marvin Haynes with 20 points and Franklin Giles with 15. Haynes came into the game ranked 4th nationally in Division I among scorers with a 25.7 average. Statistics Held goals, free throws and points. St.

XAVIER 83 Matthews 0 0-2 0, Harper 4 7-11 15, Reed 8 2-2 18, Beede 0 2-4 2, Pomorski 5 2-6 12, Bogard 12 12-17 36. Totals 20 25-39 S3 S.C. STATE 2 Miller 3 0-0 6. Ashford 104-4 24, Murphy 5 1-2 11, Maynes 8 4-4 20, Gibbs 4 o-l 8, Lit-tlejohn 0 2-2 2, Giles 5 5-6 15, Chance 2 0-0 4, Chisolm 2 0-0 4. Totals 37 16-19 92.

Halftime S.C. State 44, St. Xavier 41. Fouled out Pomorski, Littlejohn. Total fouls St Xavier 18, S.C.

State 33. Technical St. Xavier player (Harper). A 720. KAREEM NEEDED LOS ANGEI.ES (AP) Can the I Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship without Ka-reem Abdul-Jabbar? No way, according to Coach Pat Riley.

He laughed at talk that the Inkers could have done it without Kareerh when they won the title last spring. "Sure, we won six in a row without him before the playoffs," Riley admitted, "but we were on an emotional high. We needed him for the money games and we had him. That's how we won the title." An AP Sports Analysis By WILLIAM R. BARNARD AP Sports Writer There are actually two soap operas named "As the World Turns.

One is on television, and the other is a real-life story of World B. Free. Despite a 20.8 career scoring average, including a norm of 26.4 the last four seasons. Free was traded three weeks ago to the fourth team in his seven-year National Basketball Association career. This time he landed in Cleveland, currently the league's version of the Sahara Desert in exchange for Ron Brewer, whose career scoring credential of 14.1 is hardly comparable to Free's.

But what else can we expect from guy from tiny Guilford College who called himself AH-World while on the same team as Julius Erving and then made it all legal by going to court and changing his name from Lloyd Free to World B. Free? "I felt like Igot along with everybody at Golden State, including the coach," Free says. "I was very surprised with the trade, but I look at it as a personal challenge. So far the people in Cleveland have responded well to me and I want to put on a good show for them." Free was reluctant to discuss why he was traded for a player of seemingly unequal value, but admitted that part of the reason was that he was in the final year of his contract. "You'll notice that's the history of the Golden State franch ise," he said.

"Jamaal Wilkes, Robert Parish, Rick Barry and. Bernard King all were gone in the final year of their Contracts." But also following Free is a reputation as a shoot-from-the-hip gunner that he acquired in his early pro yearswith the Philadelphia 76ers. "I'd like to think that I have lived that down," Free says. "I get more rebounds and assists and play better defense than I used to. In the Philadelphia days, I was instructed to go out' and score.

If they had told me to play defense, I would have done it." What hasn't changed over the years is the beauty of a World Free 20-footer, arching high over the defense and cleanly through the net. The shooting percentage also has held steady over the years, varying only from 44.6 to 48.1 in eight years, including this season, when he has hit 45 percent of his shots for a 22-point average, 12th in the NBA. Cavaliers Coach Tom Nissalke says he's delighted to have Free. "I think he'll make a tremendous difference on this team," Nissalke said. "I'd like him to play about 37 minutes a game.

We play a set-up kind of offense and his best success (when he averaged 30.2 points per game in 1979-80) came when he was with San Diego, and they played a set-up offense." Nissalke said he didn't know of any problems Free was having at Golden State, but for himself, "I've always liked Free. He has a lot of guts and he provides leadership." Michigan State upsets Iowa College basketball roundup Marcus Allen AP names Marcus Allen offensive rookie of year points for unbeaten Syracuse in its rout of Providence in a Big East matchup. The Orangemen, 11-0, scored the last four points of the first half and first six points of the second half to put the game Junior guard Alvin Robertson tied his career-high with 23 points on nine-of-13 shooting from the field to pace Arkansas, now 10-0. The Razorbacks hit 19 of 28 shots, including 13 layups and dunks, in racing to a 46-28 halftime leadL-. against Mercer.

Louisville, sparked by brothers Rodney and Scooter McCray, exploded to -start the second half in routing Kentucky Wesleyan, a Division II team. Louisville, 9-2, scored 19 consecutive points early in the second half to take a 62-34 lead. Scooter had 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists while Rodney had 14 points, six rebounds By The Associated Press There's no place like away-from-home for Michigan which just closed another successful road show on its "meat grinder" tour. The Spartans visited No.8 Iowa Wednesday night, and spoiled their hosts' debut in the new Carver-Hawkeye Sports Arena with a 61-59 upset victory. Kevin Willis and Sam Vincent scored 18 points apiece for Michigan State in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Vincent hit a free throw in the final seconds and Iowa lost a chance to tie on a turnover with two seconds left. TOP TWENTY In other games involving Top Twenty teams. Auburn bounced fifth-ranked Alabama 91-80, third-ranked Kentucky got past Louisiana State 52-50, No. 9 Syracuse trimmed Providence 83-58, "No. 10 Arkansas topped Mercer 83-62, 13th-ranked Louisville defeated Kentucky Wes- the old fieldhouse so there would be psychological effect from that." Alabama, which moved up a notch to No.

5 this week, lost its second consecutive South-eastern Conference game. Charles Barkley scored 27 points, including 20 in the second half, as Auburn pulled away in the final seven minutes. Ennis Whatley had 31 points for. Alabama, 8-2, which lost its SEC opener to Florida on Monday night. Kentucky, meanwhile, had to hold on to overcome LSU in another SEC game.

Melvin Turpin blocked Leonard Mitchell's field goal attempt with two seconds left to give the Wildcats their 10th victory in 11 games. Jim Master of Kentucky led all scorers with 14 points. Erich Santifer tallied 18 linebacker Johnnie Cooks of Baltimore, but he easily outdistanced both for the award. Cornerback Vernon Dean of the Washington Redskins was runnerup in the balloting with 17 votes. Defensive tackle Bruce Clark of New Orleans, a Green Bay draftee who returned to the NFL this season after starting his pro career in Canada, was third with nine votes.

Others receiving at least three votes were Sims and Buffalo linebacker Eugene Marve, seven apiece Cooks, with six, and Banks' teammate, linebacker Tom Cousineau, with five. Cousineau, like Clark, played in Canada before signing in the NFL. "I think my strongest point would be rushing the passer," said Banks, a 6-foot-4, 233 -pounder who opened the season with three sacks against Seattle. "I still feel I have to work on reading keys to diagnose plays. My pass coverage needs some more work." Banks admits the players' strike hurt his momentum.

Still, he finished with five sacks to tie for the team lead, and he had 56 tackles to place fourth on the Browns. He forced a team-high two fumbles and recorded one interception. His intense hitting also earned him a spot on the roster for the Pro Bowl. Only three previous Cleveland rookies nave gone to the Pro Bowl Jim Brown in 1958, Paul Warfield in 1965 and Greg Pruitt in 1974. "He's a fine player," said Coach Sam Rutigliano, adding that the players' strike kept fans from seeing the best of Banks.

i "I think the eight-week lapse really hurt him, particularly for a young player. We weren't able to use him as a defensive end in the nickel defense any more because he was so far behind, we were trying to just get him to help us as a linebacker." Although Banks played middle linebacker as a senior at Southern California, he moved to the left outside position in Cleveland. "It's been tougher for me mentally than physically," said Banks. "The toughest was the learning pace they go at in training camp. It was sort of discouraging at times, tut you have to grab hold and Catch it as you go." ley an 79-58, No.

17 Georgetown stopped Monmouth 82-59, and No. 18 North Carolina beat Rutgers 86-69. "We enjoy breaking in new arenas," said Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote, whose Spartans dampened Boise State's debut at its new complex earlier this season. "In all honesty, we caught Iowa on a cold night in their shooting and we are very fortunate to win," Heathcote said. "The Big Ten will be meat grinder all year.

We had been struggling and it's great to -get a victory in the opener." Iowa Coach Lute Olson said his Hawkeyes, 8-2, had all the comforts of home but just didn't win. "No, I don't think the new arena had anything to do with it," Olson said. "We even moved the same rims from start seeing black ink." Hunt is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken sports entrepreneur from Dallas whose interests are widespread. He founded the worldwide, mul-ti-milllion-doUlar World Championship (WCT) tennis tour, which he has directed for 16 years, often at loggerheads with the tennis Will Grinislevffi AFL founder has advicHfor them one of the most potent teams in the pro game an offense predicated on the quarterback telling his backs and receivers: "Everybody go long." The Raiders, Super Bowl champions two years ago but only 7-9 in 1981, rebounded to-post ah 8-1 record, the American Conference's best in this strike-shortened season. Allen followed in the footsteps of Mike Garrett, O.J.

Simpson and Charles White in winning the Heisman, emblematic of college football supremacy, while at Southern Cal. The school also turned out running backs Ricky Bell, Anthony Davis, Sam Cunningham, Clarence Davis, Jon Arnett and Frank. Gifford. As a senior, Allen rolled yards, an NCAA single-season record. But when he was drafted by the then-Oakland and soon-to-be-Los Angeles Raiders, club owner Al Davis was accused of making a blatant pitch to sell tickets in their new home.

Memorial Coliseum. New England had the No. 1 pick in the draft and used it to take defensive lineman Kenneth Sims from Texas. Eight other teams also passed on Allen two of them going for other running backs, Minnesota taking Darrin Nelson, Atlanta selecting Gerald Riggs before the Raiders' turn came. NEW YORK (AP) Marcus Allen, the National Football League's scoring leader in 1982 and linchpin of the the Lot Angeles Raiders' resurgence, was unanimously named today The Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Allen, Heisman Trophy winner from a running back factory called the University of Southern California, received all 84 votes from- a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. His selection came after his roommate at Southern Cal, Cleveland Browns linebacker Chip Banks, won the Defensive Rookie award on Wednesday. Allen finished the season third in the American Conference and fourth in the league in rushing with 697 yards on 160 carries and scored a league-leading 11 touch-' downs on the ground. He added 401 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders' No. 2 receiver with 38 catches, four behind Todd Christensen.

His 84 points on 14 touchdowns made him the first non-kicking rookie to win the NFL scoring title since Gale Sayers did it in 1965. He also was selected by his peers as the only rookie starter in the Pro Bowl game. With Allen joining Kenny King in the backfiekl, the Raiders returned to the offense which had made and four assists. money, he was the chief architect in the formation of -the old AFL, collecting a group of daring monied interests who went head-to-head' against the powerful NFL in 1960. It was a sort of catch-as-catch-can operation at first, grabbing off rejects and retreads, but, by sticking it out and ultimately gaining a network contract, the mavericks forced the NFL to submit to a merger in 1966.

Now Hunt is one of the NFL's most admired and honored directors, beginning his 23rd year as owner of the Chiefs and in 1972 elected to the pro Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Last year, he received the highest honor of the NFL Alumni Association election to the order of the Leather Helmet. None of it has been easy. "I am not too familiar with USFL the new league," Hunt said, "but, looking at it objectivel-ly, 1 would say their main problem will be that of conditioning people to summer football. "In that respect, unlike the AFL, the are trying to do something unnatural.

They have access to plenty of players and they have an exciting product as well as network TV exposure and proceeds. "But one can't minimize people's habits. They aren't easy to change. In June people will be going on vacation and in July to the beach. In the spring and early summer, they will be getting interested in major league baseball as well as such summer sports as tennis and golf.

"You cansell football on football alone. We are finding that out4n the NFL as a result of the strike." Millionaire Lamar Hunt, who founded the rebel American Football League and helped orchestrate its merger with the National Football League, has this piece of advice for the U.S. Football League: "You better be prepared to stay with with it. "It's hard to draw parallels with the old AFL and the new USFL," said the Texas oil heir, in New York on a tennis mission. "The situations are quite different, but some of the perils are the same.

"Their problems started Tuesday when they opened their draft. Now they must work on generating income and establishing their market. In the AFL, It was five years before we began to see daylight. It took some teams 10 years, well after we had merged with the NFL, to He is sole owner of the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL and is currently looking around for a new head coach. He owns a portion of the Chicago Bulls pro basketball team and recently -merged his Dallas Tornado soccer team with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, retaining a 49 per cent interest.

With his enterprise and.