Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 11

VOL. 1 NO. 6 April 24. 1980 Page 11 Dan Marino comes down from clouds to lead Pitt --(. i -v- js Viip ft 4r Jm.

I If. .7 completed 65 percent of his passes "He distinguished himself," said Pitt head coach Jackie Sherrill. "He's one of the best young quarterbacks around He had some help, some good people around him, but I expected him to achieve what he did. There's no denying his talent. "I think Danny will improve." So does English, who cautioned, "Marino may be a better quarterback without better statistics." Marino added, "I have the physical parts of the game down, now I have to work on the mental aspects.

I have to polish mentally, learn to read defenses better and to call the right audibles." Even though he did not start until Rick Trocano was hurt at mid-season, Marinfl' quickly established himself as the leader on the field. "The quarterback in any offense is the leader," he said. "The players have to look to the quarterback for leadership. I felt I led the team well last year. You have to go in and control the huddle But before Marino puts on his helmet next year, he is going to play some baseball this summer in a top-notch college league at Cape Cod.

He will be eligible for the major-league draft in June and Marino said that professional baseball is still a possibility. "It's still in my mind," said Marino, a highly-touted centerfielder. "I'll just have to wait and see what happens." It has all been happening very fast for Marino. I had never seen before." Despite his impeccable statistics and a powerful right arm, Marino is not the main weapon in Pitt's arsenal as the Panthers prepare to make a run at the 1980 national championship. In fact, Pitt's coaches are trying to take as much pressure as possible off the broad shoulders of Marino, who has added 10 pounds (up to 213) to his 6-4 frame.

"We don't want Marino to think he has to do it all for us," said Wally English, Pitt's offensive co-ordinator. "We want him to be a part of our offense not the whole offense by himself." However, for Pitt to seriously challenge for the national title, Marino must have an outstanding season. It's as simple as that. "It's real important for me to have a good year," he said, accepting the role with ease. "We'll just take it game by game, concentrating on winning each game.

We know we can go 12-0. "I think we probably have the best athletes of any university in the coun-try." That's quite a mouthful, but Marino and his teammates are aiming their sights to the top this year. With 16 starters returning from last season's 11-1 squad, the Panthers appear to be in shape for a shot at the title. "I think we can be as good as we want to be," said Marino. It is hard to imagine Marino being any better than he was last year, when he By PHIL AXELROD Pot-GM1t SeortJ Writer Some times it is hard to believe that Dan Marino is just going to be a sophomore -this fall because he has already accomplished so much as Pitt's quarterback.

In less than half a season five games as a starter, to be exact Marino, as a mere freshman, etched his name in Pitt's record book by passing for 1,680 yards for the fourth best single-season performance in the school's history. For Marino, a graduate of Central Catholic High School, last year was like a dream. He seemed to be living on a cloud, with all highs and no lows. He started five games and won them all, including a 16-10 victory over Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl, and he was named the top freshman quarterback in the country. It was a storybook season for Marino, who made the transition from high school to college without missing a pass.

I had a lot of help last year," Marino was saying after Saturday's Spring game, which officially ended practice until the fall. "The players and coaches made it easy for me." Marino, though, is not expecting it to be quite as simple this time around. "They're going to try to disguise coverages, figuring that I'm a young quarterback," said Marino. "Arizona had me confused they showed me something 1 T- i i 7 Gazda hopes to move up By JOHN MEHNO Mike Gazda believes that his time has arrived. After three years of junior varsity football and a redshirt eason, Gazda, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound offensive lineman, thinks he may finally fit into Pitt's plans.

The Panthers currently have Gazda pencilled in as a backup to All-America candidate Mark May at right offensive tackle, and Gazda views that as a move in the right direction. At least, it is more encouraging than last year's depth chart, which had Gazda listed as the fourth left tackle, playing behind two seniors and a sophomore. "I think I have a chance to get more playing time this year," he says. "That's the feeling I've gotten from the coaching staff. They've been showing interest in me." That is something the Panthers have not shown much of since Gazda came to -v.

I ivP' Andy Russell 1966. He began off-season work with the Oliver Tyrone Corporation in Pittsburgh in 1968. Two years later, he became a licensed security broker-dealer and a real estate broker. He retired from football "not because I felt I couldn't play anymore, but because I wanted to have a 100 percent commitment to my interests." Russell talked about his business dealings and his professional football career in his office in 3 Gateway Center with Post-Gazette sports writer Jerry v. '7 Piifs starting quarterback, Dan Marino, has his feet on the ground now.

Russell succeeds in A business PG: Were the chances of becoming a successful businessman easier because you were a professional athlete? I think there are pros and cons to that. It certainly made it easier for me in a sense that it opened more doors. Also, in another respect it was harder. Some people have preconceived notions that a football player can't be a businessman. I had to work hard to overcome that stigma.

I did that by knowing my product better than the next guy. I worked hard. I went to business meetings before football practice and after. After I got licensed it was a seven-day-a-week thing. PG: Then I assume you went to practice haggard at times.

I came to football practice haggard a lot. But I think I could wear two hats. I don't think my business interests hurt my football. In fact, it was a great way to take my frustrations out. It helped me.

If I spent all day talking and concentrating on football, then that could hurt me, too. There's a danger in football of becoming too analytical, too much of a perfectionist. You've got to have that spontaneity. PG: Do you have any lasting pain or injuries from football? I've got a bad knee and I still see the Steelers' orthopedic surgeon once a week. I broke every one of my fingers once and both my thumbs twice.

I've had my share of injuries, but I don't regret one bit of it. I had a great time playing Continued on Page 14.) I think we have a good shot at winning it." While the Hard Hats may lose Snatchko, they have ten players returning from last year's playoff team, including star infielders Denny Brown and Greg Birko as well as outfielders Barry Glaser and John Regent. "We'll have a strong team," Dilorio said. "Like any team, we're out to win it all. We have a fast, streamlined team and our players are all complete players.

We have some longball hitters, but we're more than that." Along with high hopes for a winning season, Dilorio is also optimistic about breaking even financially and getting the league on solid ground. "Stepien's out to break me he said so in a letter we have but I'm willing to give it one more shot," Dilorio said. "If Stepien had stayed with us, this might have been the over-the-hump year. But if my capital ever starts to run out, I'll have to re-evaluate. No one wants to keep on losing money." Some teams in the APSPL did make money last season, including now departed Detroit, Rochester and Kentucky.

While the league is cutting down from 12 teams to eight, Dilorio feels that ejch (Continued on Page 14.) Assocatea Press I is Pitt from South Allegheny High School. An all-WPIAL player and a Big 33 selection, his playing time with the varsity Panthers has been limited to a stretch of about 2V2 minutes against Tulane a few seasons ago. Since then, he has seen players with less experience move ahead of him the latest Pitt experiment has Jim Covert moving from defense to the offensive line. In the Pitt spring prospectus, head coach Jackie Sherrill lists the offensive line among his top priorities. The uncertainty means that Gazda might finally get a chance to get his uniform dirty in a varsity game.

The redshirt adds a year to his eligibility, although Gazda is in his fourth year at Pitt. His career has not been spectacular, but times have been good at Pitt. Gazda's been to three bowl games with the Panthers and does not regret making Pitt his choice. Vic KUNGENSViTx Poi'Giif "I guess at times it's been frustrating," he says. "But you have to wait your turn.

It's an adjustment coming to a school like Pitt after high school. "When I was in high school, I was always one of the biggest guys around. You really didn't have to do that much. Here, there's a lot more competition, a lot more people your size." Actually, Pitt does not have many players Gazda's size, but the Panthers are overflowing with talent. At many schools, he would be a starter.

With Pitt, Gazda sits. "I never really thought about that," he says. "I guess at a smaller school I probably would've started the last couple of years. But I've had fun at Pitt. I've enjoyed it here.

You have to be happy doing what you do." (Continued on Page 12.) Plum takes volleyball tournament By JERRY ROBERTS Post-Gite Sports Writer Plum High School captured its first WPIAL volleyball championship this past weekend when it took a 15-5, 15-7 victory over North Allegheny at Steel Valley Both teams qualify for the PIAA championship competition tomorrow and Saturday at Shippensburg State College. The girls' winner and run-nerup, Norwin and Baldwin, respectively, will also compete over the weekend. For the second year in a row, North Allegheny lost in the WPIAL championship game. Last year, the Tigers went into the PIAA competition as the WPIAL runnerup, but came home with the state title. Plum got 13 unanswered points behind the serving of DuWayne Trum-ble as it downed Derry Area, 15-1, in the first set of the semifinal round, and finished the opposition off, 15-13.

Meanwhile, North Allegheny downed former WPIAL champion Deer Lakes, with a 15-12, 12-15, and 15-2 triumph. After a day of volleyball, Plum emerged with a 10-0 record. Plum Coach Mike Larko cited juniors John Kmetz, and Steve Marsalese, senior Glenn Harbison and sophomore Trumble for their excellent games. Senior Glenn Bell and junior Greg Arnold round out the Mustangs' starting six. Larko is confident his team will do well in tomorrow's 14-team PIAA tournament.

"If our players play our game. I'm sure we'll determine the outcome," he said. "We have as good a shot as anybody. Our main competition will come from North Allegheny and Hav-erford, a team from outside Philadelphia." Larko considers Marsalese, Plum's 6-foot-5 quarterback during football season, his club's main weapon. As a setter, Marsalese "puts up a very strong block and is a good hitter," according to his coach.

Plum went 16-0 on the season behind seven-year coaching veteran Larko, winning WPIAL Section 2 for the third time in as many years. According to Larko, it has taken a few years for volleyball to be accepted as a major sport at Plum. "Now we're getting some of the school's better athletes interested in volleyball," he said. "Instead of them going the football-basketball route, they're taking a second look at volleyball. Marsalese, for instance, has a shot after next year to get a volleyball scholarship to one of the nation's top ten volleyball schools Iff As an outside linebacker in the National Football League, Andy Russell had few peers.

Now, as a businessman, he rates a similar standing. Russell, a 12-year Steeler veteran now living in Fox Chapel, is involved in the administration of four companies: Russell Investments; Russell, Rey, and Zappala; Three Rivers Energy Resources; and Middle East Trading Company (METCO). He owns all the stock in PG sports hotline Russell Investments, a concern that deals in syndicated investing, real estate, and natural gas and oil drilling. Three Rivers Energy Resources is a drilling company and METCO has been involved in the construction of eight warehouses for the ARAMCO cartel in Saudi Arabia over the past five years. Russell was fullback-linebacker at the University of Missouri before being drafted by the Steelers in the 16th round in 1963.

He played a year, spent two years in the Army in Germany, and returned to football in 1966. He was the Steeler defensive captain from 1967 until his retirement in 1976. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl eight times and was selected as one of two outside linebackers for the NFL All-Decade team of the seventies by two separate pro football publications. Russell received a masters degree in business administration from Missouri in Pro softball Edgewood's Jim Dilorio has a lot of statistics to back up Softball's popularity. "Over 66 million participate in softball in or" ay or another," Dilorio, owner of Jir.i Sport's Shop, says.

"Over 75 per cent of the gloves and shoes purchased are for softball. It's definitely the most popular sport in America." Unfortunately, softball is not very popular in Pittsburgh. Dilorio, who owns the pro Pittsburgh Hard Hats and is currently the commissoner of the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), lost money for the third straight year as the Steel City's softball magnate. But, according to Dilorio, things are looking up. "This should be a big year for the league," Dilorio said.

"We'll be getting national exposure through cable television's ESPN sports network, which could capture an audience of 6.5 million people. People have realize that this is not a picnic game the way we play it, and the only way they'll realize that is through exposure." Dilorio was a founding member of the APSPL four years ago, and last year marked the first season his Hard Hats made the playcffs. The Hard Hats play their home "games in Aliquippa and gaining in popularity if rt'f-Eil t'ilJ'if iU L'v 533 -4 i --y 'Iff Dilorio realizes the distance between there and Pittsburgh is a problem. "It might hurt," he said. "But there's nowhere in the city with the proper facilities for us to play.

I don't understand it. They build complexes in other cities and we don't get anything." The Hard Hats may also face trouble from the new league in town. Cleveland's Ted Stepien, who dropped out of the APSPL last year, has formed his own rival league, with each team in the league owned by Ted Stepien. Dilorio and his fellow APSPL owners are trying to stop the new league, which includes a Pittsburgh team. "We're going to court in Cleveland," Dilorio said.

"Stepien signed a letter which said, in the event that he dropped out of the league, that he would not participate in or form another league. And now he forms his own league and tries to steal our players." Stepien has been partially successful in Pittsburgh, stealing star outfielder Roger Snatchko from the Hard Hats. But Dilorio is hitting the Pennsylvania courts, too, to keep Snatchko. "Roger signed a contract, and he should abide by it," Dilorio said. "We'll safe just how good our contracts and by- laws are when we go to court on this one.

Central's Mike Fitpatrirk (12) Mops return from Plum's Glrnn Bell during IM U. vollt'ybulj tournamenl game..