Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 35

DETROIT FREE PRESS Tuesday. June 1ft, "75 ID Hawks Must Pay $400,000 FOOLISH A A aSWSSt i .1 I J1I SUlfJllSCU lilt IlliUlt uie fine only $400,000. They might as well have announced $4 million, for all the chance they have of collecting it." Doubting official from another pro sport. mmr NEW YORK (UPI) The first reaction is that it's all a big joke, something hastily improvised to improve the National Basketball Association's posture and give it a better image to the paying public. Nobody in his right mind believes for a minute the Atlanta Hawks actually will pay that $400,000 fine imposed upon them by the league's board of governors in San Francisco for surreptitiously signing Julius Erving three years ago and playing him in only two preseason games.

"Money figures have no meaning at all in basketball," ridiculed one official in another professional sport. "I'm surprised they made the fine only $400,000. They might as well have announced $4 milllion for all the chance they have of ever collecting it. "You know what'll happen to that It'll be carried 'on the under accounts receivable." NOT SO IN this case. Barring court action by them, which is highly unlikely due to a number of circumstances, the Hawks will pay the $400,000 fine before the week is out, primarily because they have no choice.

Larry O'Brien, the NBA's new commissioner, is anxious to establish the firmness of his offic as quickly as possible, and At was he who ruled the New York Knicks' contract with George McGinnis invalid, but he was only a bystander in the fine meted out against the Hawks. The league's board of governors was purely responsible for that, and there was considerable arguing back and forth before the action finally was taken by the margin of only one vote. denly you get a call and are told. oh. by the way, there's been a slight change in the price because of something that happened three years ago.

You see, the team has been fined $400,000. and that means you, as the new owner, wi'I have to incur that little added expense. THE PRESENT Atlanta owners have no inten-tion of springing the little surprise on Mr. Selig. Wilcox already has said he and his group are taking full responsibility for the fine.

Not that it makes it any easier to pay, but the NBA's board of governors broke down the fine in two parts. The Hawks must pav the Milwaukee Bucks $250,000 and tho NBA $150,000. Atlanta also had their top two second-round choices in the 1976 draft taken away fnni them and if Selig gees ahead and i-uys the team unfortunately for him he gets stuck witn that penalty. AH the trouble dales back to April of 1972. Erving, now one of the ASA's superstar-, v.i'h the New York Nets, left the University of Ma-.

usetts in 1971 after his junior year and signed with the Virginia Squires of the Ail that year. When his class it Massachusetts graduated the folowing spring, he was eligible to be dratted by any NBA ciuo. A day before the draft Atlanta, which had no first round draft choice, signed Erving, and Milwaukee, which drafted him hollered foul. The Hawks played Erving in one preseason game and were fin-id $25,000 by Walter Kennedy, then commissioner. They played him in a second pre-sea-son game and wani fined $25,000 again bv Kennedy, who said he'd continue fining the Hawks $25,000 for every game they played him.

stakes THE ATLANTA Tme is the highest imposed against any team in sports history and is guaranteed to be paid due to a buiit-in mechanism the NBA has for collecting it. The mechanism is called television revenue, and tne way it works is simple. Three times a year each in the NBA receives $500,000 in TV from CBS, which turns over the sum to the league. The league then sends the money along tn the individual teams, only in this case ic will deduct $400,000 from Atlanta's share. No fuss, no fanfare, no appeal.

This same procedure was used to collect a $200,000 fine imposed upon Seattle's Stipersonics for signing Spencer Haywood in violation of the rules five years ago. What makes Atlanta's fining all the more vexing to the Hawks at this time is that they are in the process of being sold to S. Steven Selig, an Atlanta businessman for $6 1 rniili.jn. So tar, the Hawks have only a handshake on the deal, supposed to be completed within the n-t few weeks. Imagine you're the buyer of a ball club.

Sud Seek Match Race For 'Triple' Colts Pick Michigan's Greatest Athlete NEW YORK (UPI) Following closely upon the just completed Triple Crown, the New York Racing Association Monday proposed a $:00,000 "dream race" to match the winners of the three jewels in what the RA termed a "race of champions." The race would be al 1 1-4 miles, bringing together Ken-lucky Derby I oolith Pica hi champ'on Master Derby and iielmnnt St.ikos winner Avatar at Belmont Park. Each horse world rarrv I2(i pounds and tlv. race would be hi-lti liiher Saturday, June 28, or Sunday, June 29. 4 Plans for special race were jointly by Jack Dreyfus nd Ogdon Ph chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the board 07 trustees of the NYRA. "I think the race wculd be the most exciting event in New York race match history, Dreytus told reporters in the press box.

"V-n sun the separate winners of each Triple Crown even? have never been brought together to settle the colt championship, and in Foolish Pleasure, Master Derby and Avatar yoj hava thr evenlv-matched colts." The distance of 1 miles would appear to be perfect for the three-week inter- after the 1 1-1! mile Belmont would be enough time for the colts t.i be "up" for the proposed race. THE LION'S share ol the purs-J would go to the winner, but the race -wot" not a winner-taka-all affair. Who has been the greatest athlete the State of Michigan has Cver known? I Was it Ty Cobb? Gordie Howe? Joe Louis? Or maybe you think it was Walter Hagen or Bobby Layne or Mauri Rose, a fhree-time winner of the Indianapolis 500? Perhaps you feel it was an amateur, such as Terry McDer-rnott, the Olympic-winning speed skater, or track stars Eddie Volan, Hayes Jones or Lorenzo Wright. Here's vour chance to decide. We're going to run a poll of Wheels and other car parts went flying at Milwau- the wheels off the car driven by Mel Cornett in the kee as the racer driven by John Martin (89) sheared Mays 150-Mile race Sunday.

our readers to determine who was the best of all time. We're not going to set any specific rules. Vote for whomever you like, but it should be who has been identified with our state. Louis, for instance, was hi'rn in Alabama but he has always been considered the pride of Detroit. Sugar Ray Robinson, on the other hand, was born in Detroit but was never really ciated with Detroit.

If you want to vote for Sugar Ray, that's your prerogative. But the athlete should have some connection with Michigan. Lose. 5-2 Hitler Tagged Tigers tween outfielders and Hal McRae's sacrifice fly resulted in a pair of runs off the Tigers' righthanded reliever. The Tigers began the fifth with four straight singles off the bats off Veryzer, Humphrey, LeFlore and Sutherland.

Rut all that only got them one run as McDaniel was ushered in to get the necessary three outs. Sutherland's bloop single to center sent Veryzer across the plate, finished off Fitzmorris, and kept the bases fuli. But Danny Meyer popped to shortstop Frank While in shallow left field, Willie Horton accidentally bounced back to McDaniel, forcing Humphrey at; the plate, and Roberts struck out. AND ALTHOUGH they got lour more hits off McDaniel over the final five innings, including LeFlore's two-out triple Please (urn to Page ItD, Column .1 your heart belongs to daddy Sunday, June 15th Joe Likes Hon Personally, I think the whole thing could be a runaway for Gordie Howe. Right now I'm leaning toward him as my first choice.

But how do you overlook Ty Cobb and Joe Louis? They were every bit as great in their own profession as Howe was in his. What may be difficult to do is compare a man such as Howe, who was dominant for a quarter of a century with the Detroit Red Wings, with someone such as Terry McDermott, who had only one moment of glory but it was as spectacular in his way as any of Gordie's were in his way. This is something you'll have to decide for yourself. Just keep an open mind and vote freely. We'll count up the ballots and announce the winner in about 10 days.

Following is a list of some of the more famous athletes we have had the privilege of performing for us through the years. This is merely an aid to do your voting. Your choice can be someone else, as long as it is what you truly believe. And only one yots per customer so we don't get into that dumb business of stuffing the ballot box. List of Greats So here we go: TIGERS: Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Harry Heilmann, Sam Crowford, George Mullin, Hal Newhouser.

Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich, Harvey Kuenn, Goose Goslin, Billy Rogcll, George Kell. LIONS: Dutch Clark, Bobby Layne, Joe Schmidt, Whizzer White, Doak Walker, Les Bingaman, Lou Creekmur, Jack Chris- BY JIM HAWKINS Fm Press Sports Writer KANSAS CITY The Kansas City Royals caught, the Tigers by surprise in the eighth inning Monday night, suddenly turning what had been a tight ball game into a 5-2 romp. With the score tied at 2-2 and the contest apparently destined to continue indefinitely, the Royalse rupted for three runs in the eighth mainly at the expense of John Hiller, surprisingly enough. In vain were 14 hits, including three by shortstop Tom Veryzcr and two apiece by Ron LeFTore, Gary Sutherland, Leon Roberts and Terry Humphrey as ageless Lindy Mc-Daniel confounded the Tigers for five scoreless innings of relief to earn his third success without a setback this season. TOM WALKER, a last-minute starter when Ray Bare had to be sent to the hospital suffering from severe stomach cramps and the flu, was in the midst of a stalemate when Jim Wohlford singled for the Royals two outs into the eighth.

And when Wohlford swiped second on Walker's second pitch to George Brett, Tiger manager Ralph Houk sent for Hiller to continue pitching to the Kansas City third baseman. But Hiller served Brett a double to right that sent Wohlford home with the only run the Royals were to need. And when Amos Otis followed with a two-run inside-the-park homer on a bloop fly to shallow right-center field that bounced between Sutherland, LeFlore and Roberts and then hopped high into the air over their heads off the lively artificial turf, the final score got a bit out of hand. Walker absorbed the loss his third of the year, along with one win even though he struck out five and walked none, allowing seven hits in a far more impressive performance than anyone had a right to expect. The righthanded relief specialist, who had started one game for the Tigers earlier this season and lasted less than five innings, volunteered for starting assignment Monday when he found out Bare was sick.

And Houk wasn't about to fault him for the job he did. FOURTEEN HITS should be sufficient to insure a win any time. The Tigers got off to a 1-0 start against Al Fitzmorris when second-inning singles by Roberts, Jack Pierce and Veryzer produced a run. But the Royals, who didn't get a hit off Walker until Cookie Rojas doubled in the third, jumped on top themselves with two runs in the fourth. A single by Brett, Otis' double to deep left-center be Hansen, Night Train Lane, Charlie Sanders, Alex Karras.

RED WINGS: Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Terry Sawchuk. Red Kelly, Sid Abel, Eddie Goodfellow, Larry Aurie, Jack Stewart. PISTONS: Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, Gene Shue, George Yard-ley. GOLF: Walter Hagen, Horton Smith, Chuck Kocsis, Al Wa-trous, Walter Burkemo, Chick Harbert. BOXING: Joe Louis, Stanley Ketchel, Al Wolgast, George Lavigne, Kayo Morgan, Wes Ramey, Chuck Davey.

BOWLING: Joe Norn's, Therm Gibson, Buzz Fazio, George Young, Billy Golembiewski, Marion Ladewig, Lou Seilaff, Bob Strampe, Ed Lubanski, Dave Soutar. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Willie Heston, Bennie Oosterbaan, Tommy Harmon, Bill Hewitt, Benny Friedman, Harry Kipke, Ron Kramer, Johnny Pingel, George Webster, Bubba Smith, Don Coleman. HORSE RACING: Ronnie Campbell. TRACK AND FIELD: Eddie Tolan, Hayes Jones, Lorenzo Wright, Henry Carr, Herb Washington. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Bob Calihan, Cazzie Russell, Johnny Green, Dave DeBusschere, Harold Gensichen, Rudy Tomjanovich, Campy Russell.

SPEED SKATING: Terry McDermott, Sheila Young. AUTO RACING: Mauri Rose, Eddie Sachs, Gordon John-cock. POWER BOATING: Gar Wood, Bill Muncey. -v i wrap him up in waffle weave terry cloth Sooners Oust Hurons, 7-0 Special to the Free Pres OMAHA Oklahoma erupted for four runs in the third inning and went on to eliminate Eastern Michigan from college baseball's World Series Monday night, 7-0. It was the second loss for the Hurons in the double-elimination event and ended their outstanding season with a 37-20 record.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Texas ousted Seton Hall from the series, scoring 10 runs in the first inning and holding off the Pirates, 12-10. THE RESULTS cut the tourney field to four teams. The only undefeated clubs, Arizona State and South Carolina, clash Tuesday night. Oklahoma, 52-9 for the season, scored one run in the second inning, then KO'd Eastern starter Ken Bruchanski in the fourth on a walk and two singles. Jay Tra-ver relieved Bruchanski with the bases loaded.

Two more runs scored on a double steal and a Huron error. Oklahoma added two runs in the ninth inning. Eastern had opened the tourney by defeating top-ranked Florida State, then dropped their first decision to South Carolina Sunday nigh, 5-1, on a two-hitter bv the Gamecock's Greg Ward. Nice, thick, pure cotton terrycloth in a richly textured waffieweave in some of the neatest looking robes to hit the beach. Or the bath.

The hooded robe has two pockets and a sash, comes in one size that fits all, at $40. (There's a shawl-collared version in a knee-length model with three pockets and a sash, in sizes at $35.) And the knee-length kimono, with two pockets and a sash, comes in one size that fits all. at $30. All in blue or tan. HUGHES HATCHER Michigan's Greatest Athlete 1 2 3 Name: Address: (Mail to: Greatest Athlete, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Mich.

48231) STORES OPEN TUESDAY EVENING except WoodwardState til Grand River Greenfield and Birmingham til 5:30..