Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 105

DETROIT FREE PRESS 1 0A DETROIT FREE JULY 26, 1984 OS EM gets word: Punt or quit lohnette (C I Hoivaid led to conference decision By JOHNETTE HOWARD Free Press Staff Writer EMU run over by MAC truck I hope the Mid-American Conference council of presidents feel some sharp pangs of conscience for thier unceremonious decree July 16 that Eastern Michigan University either leave the conference or dump its football program by Aug. 1. Giving EMU two weeks to decide between a football program and a conference affiliation that touches every athletic program at the university is more When the Mid-American Conference council of presidents told Eastern Michigan University it must choose between football and conference membership, a lot of Oakland athletes were suddenly faced with dilemmas of their own. Local football players attending EMU reacted with confusion, outrage and depression after learning the MAC council voted July 16 in Toledo to force EMU to drop football or quit the conference by Aug. 1.

J'he council, seeking to assure that the conference keeps its Division I-A status, has said EMU's remaining sports teams can continue conference participation if the school drops football. Losing Division I-A status would mean a loss of prestige, television revenues and the ability for MAC schools to schedule major non-conference opponents. The effects on the EMU football players are also fairly obvious money, time and a lot of heartbreak. THOUGH EMU second-year coach Jim Harkema says all football scholarships will be honored through the 1984-85 school year, incoming freshmen such as Bill Kupp. of Under NCAA rules, a Division I-A conference must have a majority of its members meet one of three criteria: Have a stadium that seats at least 30,000 and an average attendance of at least 17,000 for one year; average 20,000 fans for home and away games, or average 17,000 fans for four straight years.

The 10-member MAC had the necessary six-school majority until Western Michigan University told conference officials this spring that it probably would not be able to meet the NCAA requirements. EMU, Ball State, Ohio University and Kent State are the other four MAC schools that don't measure up. The MAC council of presidents decided dropping to nine members and remaining Division I-A was preferable to seeing the entire conference dropped to Division I-AA. They then picked EMU as the school to go. EMU coach Jim Harkema says the president's council has not explained why.

EMU's football team finished 1983 with a 1-10 record and average attendance slightly over 6,000 per game. Until that lone victory, the school had the nation's longest Division I-A football losing streak 27 games. "We were hoping that a sixth school would indicate they could qualify or that there would be some discussion about things we could do to work this out," Harkema says. The, coach says giving EMU two weeks to decide between the conference and its football program "is just mind-boggling. "We have a university that has had football for 91 years being forced to make a decision that will be important to the entire school 30 to 40 years from now," Harkema says.

"It seems to me if we had a longer period of time to make that decision, a better decision is out there. I'm not sure exactly what it is. But 10 people pulling same way might be more helpful." Player Brian Clouse was more blunt. "I don't know why the MAC didn't give us time to get back on the road instead of just giving us a kick in the than just a lousy display of brotherhood from the other V. "71 ft nine schools in the MAC.

It's forcing EMU to make a hasty choice that, as football coach Jim Harkema rightly maintains, "could affect the future of the entire university 30 or 40 years from now." Admittedly, the MAC, seeking to maintain its status as one of only nine Division I-A football conferences in the country, has See EMU, next page Harkema: unbelievable pressure on everyone. Brett Lally (left) spars with Steve Darnell. "Boxing is great because every fight you know you can be on top with one punch or on the bottom with one punch," Lally says. some things to lose by falling down a competitive notch to Division I-AA namely, television revenues, prestige and an ability to schedule major college opponents. And the conference would have almost certainly lost its Division I-A status had it not acted somehow this summer.

Under NCAA rules, a majority of conference members six, in the 10-member MAC's case must meet one of three criteria: Have a stadium that seats at least 30,000 and an average attendance of at least 17,000 for one year; average 20,000 fans for home and away games, or average 17,000 fans for four straight years. When Western Michigan University told the conference earlier this year that its program would fall under the NCAA minimums, as EMU, Ohio University, Kent State and Ball State now do, the MAC had only five schools in compliance with the NCAA minimums. Cutting membership to nine was one way the MAC could stay in Division I-A, but it wasn't the only way. But rather than seek a remedy, the council decided some quick surgery would be the cure. THE PRESIDENTS got together July 16 for a special meeting in Toledo, pushed through an amendment to the conference constitution that cleared new ways for the expulsion of a member, then designated EMU as the sacrificial lamb.

EMU lawyers are studying the amendments. The presidents then told EMU it can drop football and continue to play other games with the MAC as a conference member, or keep its football team and wave goodby to the MAC in all sports. ic i J.f 1, Free Press Photo by DAYMON HARTLEY Boxed out? Not Irish Brett Lally No reasons were given why Eastern was chosen, but the Hurons haven't exactly had a powerhouse football program. The Hurons had the nation's longest losing streak 27 games a couple of years ago, and attendance last year was only 6,000. But rather than leave Eastern out in the cold, why didn't the council presidents buy some time? EMU HAS TRIED to upgrade the program by hiring a well-respected coach like Harkema.

EMU President John W. Porter also announced in early July that the school would guarantee all visiting teams a paid attendance of 17,000 this season by buying up unsold tickets. Why couldn't the MAC have designated Eastern a non-member in football for, say, a one-year probation period? That would have maintained the MAC's Division I-A status and given EMU or some other member school time to meet the NCAA minimums. The MAC could have made the reprieve conditional and still gone ahead and kicked Eastern out at the end of the 1984-85 year if nothing changed. At least EMU would have had some time to take care of its athletes, perhaps seek a new conference affiliation, and get its house in order.

Harkema, whose football team wouldn't have challenged for the conference title anyway, says he could accept that. "It seems to me if we had a longer period of time to make that decision, a better decision is out there, he says. "I'm not sure exactly what it is. But 10 people pulling the same way might be more helpful." Instead, the council put Eastern in the compromising By JOHNETTE HOWARD Free Press Staff Writer That Irish Brett Lally was the only loser in Atlantic City who made money July 1 1 did little to soothe the pain. So maybe the junior welterweight and his Waterford handlers did know it might be too early for his first pro title fight.

Every boxer alive steps over the ropes believing one left hook can add enough lightning to a career to mock the hands of time. "Boxing is great because every fight you know you can be on top with one punch or on the bottom with one punch," Lally says. SO THE 21-year-old fighter took his 15-3 record into the ring at the Sands Hotel and Casino against United States Boxing Association champion Greg Hinton and remained standing through a 12-round brawl his trainer calls "a war." There was a cut on Lally's face, some swelling around his eyes, but otherwise, Lally says, "I was ready for the ref to raise my hand" when he went to the middle of the ring to await the decision. "I've looked worse after six-round fights," he says. The first judge called it a draw, the other two called it Hinton.

Lally called it a hometown pick for the champion, a native of nearby Philadelphia. Then Lally, the seventh of Tom and Theresa's eight children, filed the loss among his learning experiences and went off to spend the rest of the night among some kindred souls in the gambling casinos. "You always hear about the winners, but there are 20 times as many losers," Lally said. He was talking about the casinos, but the subject just as easily could have been boxing. BEFORE the run-in with Hinton, Lally had fought his way up to a No.

18 USBA ranking with a strong fight in London April 30 against Clinton McKenzie, the current British junior welterweight champion. Lally, a brawler who likes comparisons to Ray Mancini, says he knocked McKenzie down in the seventh round, opened a gash over his left eye that required nine stitches, and had the crowd chanting "Irish" by the end of the fight. He lost the 10-round decision to the Englishman "a ripoff," Lally says but picked up another 300 British pounds in cash when the black-tie crowd assembled for the 50th birthday of ex-heavyweight Henry Cooper threw money into the ring in appreciation of his effort. "It was a big, rich party, but those guys were screaming for me. That keeps you going when you get tired," says Lally, a thick-necked blond with a strong, cleft chin.

"I honestly feel if the fight was anywhere else, we would have won." THE LOSS against Hinton was more damaging See BOXER, next page position of fighting battles without and within. 1 TT2 71 FOOTBALL, of course, isn't the only sports program at EMU. EMU's other sports teams benefit mightily from a conference affiliation especially where automatic These birds like to get wet and to win By JOHNETTE HOWARD Free Press Staff Writer Many people swim in the summer, but few are in a hurry to get anywhere like the 300 swimmers from 35 youth teams who will descend on the Southfield Civic NCAA playoff berths are involved for conference champions. In the last few years, Eastern has dominated the track and swimming MAC championships and finished in the top five in the race for the conference all-sports trophy. Quitting the MAC all together could create short-term chaos for the university's entire athletic program.

Recruiting could suffer. Current athletes could make a mass exodus to other, more stable schools. Is propping up a struggling football program worth it? Harkema, EMU's second-year head coach, admits, "This decision is more important than Jim Harkema and his football players. Forcing the decision upon the university has put an unbelievable amount of pressure on everyone involved, even when you put the human aspects aside." THE EASTERN board of regents will meet Tuesday to decide what to do. Harkema says, "I'm very concerned that we handle it in a rational way, with great integrity, so that our university will be stronger afterwards." Indications are that Eastern will probably put off dropping football entirely, at least for this season.

EMU President John W. Porter has said, "Taking away a school's football program would definitely be a dramatic setback." Harkema says he plans on playing Youngstown State Sept. 1 in youngstown: "I'm an optimistic guy. I told our players we have to take that stand. We have to work like we are going to play; otherwise, we hurt ourselves." Interestingly enough, if Eastern plays any football this fall it will follow its previously arranged MAC schedule no matter if the Hurons stay or leave the conference.

It may be the first time in the 91-year history of EMU football that students at pep rallies burn effigies of an opposing university presidents rather than football players. Free Press Photo by DAYMON J. HARTLEY Royal Oak Penguins in action. The club in the last two years has won more state titles than any other club in swim-crazed Oakland County. Center next week for the Michigan Swimming Long Course state championships.

The event, hosted by the defending champion Royal Oak Penguins team, annually features most of Michigan's top youth swimmers and some of the state's top times. Swimmers race in four age groups, ranging from 10 and under to 15-18 years old. Because of the large number of races and qualifiers, this year's meet at the Civic Center outdoor pool has been expanded to four "4 W.V I a won more state titles than any other club in swim-crazed Oakland County, including: The 1984 girls short course championship. The 1983 boys short course and boys long course state titles. The 1983 combined team title at the long course championships.

In the last three years, a Penguins team has never finished lower than third at a state meet. Part of the reason is the team depth Sfire works to develop. THE PENGUIN PROGRAM, which includes swimmers ages four to 22, has 250 members of various ability levels. For most advanced swimmers, the summer training regimen includes 15 hours a week of pool workouts and classroom studies, and three to five hours of running and weight training. Sfire, a tireless coach known for his 17-hour work days, is the man who built the Penguin program from a membership of 65 just three years ago to a burgeoning program that covers a broad geographical base.

From a modest start, the club now includes four coaches and three instructors and a host of supportive parents that help making travel easier to major meets around the country. Despite the Penguins' recent success, the 1983 com- See PENGUINS, next page John Sfire days. Preliminaries begin at 4 p.m. next Thursday. Swimming runs from 8 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with finals starting at 6 p.m. each day. The Penguins, coached by John Sfire, will again vie for the combined team title. The club in the last two years has.