Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 47

DETROIT FREE PRESS EPRESS A fantasy camp takes Wing; Contest gives young hockey players a chance to scrimmage with the Red Wings in special fantasy camp. Story on Page 5D. Sports Phone (scores): 1-976-1313 mm Friday, Feb. 6, 1007 NBANHL SCOREBOARD CLASSIFIED ADS 10, Call with tportt newt: 222-6660 Weekend guide Pages 7D-8D Boat Show: Thinking big hasn't hurt 'floating condo' maker Bowling: Perfect game plus $100,000 really adds up TV listings, fishing and skiing forecasts, get up and go iWMjOnfc. nm a.

I I I 2. Ill Pistons take early break moom Daly irked by 'bleakest 98-93 loss By JOHNETTE HOWARD 5 Free Press Sports Writer The Pistons and Indiana Pacers played the' kind of numbingly bad game Thursday night' that you'd expect to see in February, after; the odometers on everyone's legs have; turned over a few times because of the long" season. With dreams of their All-Star Game-break dancing like sugar plums in their' heads, and plane tickets to comely destina-I tions burning holes in their suitcoat the Pistons slithered off into their layoff with a gnawing 98-93 loss before 13,410 fnnf nt fkA Ci'l. mvrl of 1 i ICUIO CIl WIG ail X.C1 UUlliG. Although the All-Star break is three days, the Pistons will have five days off before resuming play Wednesday at Philadelphia.

"It's a distinct possibility they (the players) left for their vacation yesterday," Pistons coach Chuck Daly said. "This was more than disturbing, it was disappointing. To be a division leader and play a game like this is disheartening. I learned 100 years ago that you can't walk onto the court and then decide to play. Obviously our concentration was somewhere else tonight.

This was easily The Cup stays in Perth and film star is born FREMANTLE, Australia By now you're probably wondering how I pulled it off keeping the America's Cup down here in Australia so I'll tell you. It began with a story idea. An interview subject. I had heard tales of the legendary Crocodile DunDeeDee, and though she probably didn't exist, I went looking for her anyhow. Over highway and byway and into the Outback, into the bush.

And then I got out of the bush and hit a tree. For days I searched. And finally, I saw a dusty old tavern. I pushed through the doors. The tan faces looked up.

"I'm looking for Crocodile!" I said. Just then a knife came whirling from the back room and stuck with a thud into the bar. It was long and lean, and so was the person who threw it. She came out wrestling a 12-foot alligator. I knew I had found my woman.

She sized me up and offered her hand. "Micki 'Crocodile' DunDeeDee, at your service," she said. Her grip was steel. She yanked me to the dance floor. We did a waltz.

Something about Matilda. "Listen," I said. "I'm an American sports writer. And I've-- "I know what you've come for, mate," she said. "You come to make me famous.

Put me in a movie. Let's go. I'm ready." Who drinks from a cup? Well, wait, I said. It wasn't that simple. For one thing, had she done anything of note? She stared at me, then pointed to her ankle.

"Have a look," she said. "See that? Dog bit me once. Had to walk two blocks to the doctor." "Well," I said, "that's not exactly "It hurt!" she said. What else? I asked. Nothing much, she answered.

Hunted crocodiles, wrestled snakes, lived in a tree. Once she went a whole year on yams. She walked me through the Outback, through the bush. Then I came out of the bush, and brushed myself off. The night was dark.

There were weird animal sounds. She lit a fire. "Listen," I said. "I really came to talk about the Cup. What do you think about losing the Cup?" "Dunno," she said.

"I drink from the bottle." "No, no, the America's Cup. Stars Stripes? Kookaburra?" "Kookaburra?" she said. "That's a bird, mate." "It's also the name of a boat. A yacht. Kookaburra III, the Australian yacht, lost to Stars Stripes, the American yacht, and now the Australians have to give back the America's Cup." "Well, if it's America's Cup, what were we doing with it anyhow?" she said.

I wasn't sure how to answer that. "This guy who won it?" she asked. "Dennis Conner," I said. "Heck of a sailor." "Hard for a man to live just on sailing," she said. "Does he fish? Hunt?" "He sells draperies," I said.

"Ah." Just then a crocodile jumped out of the water and grabbed my microphone. I should have let it our bleakest game oi tne year. The Pacers might be next-to-last in the-; Central Division, but they were good enough to drop the Pistons (29-16) into a first-place tie with Atlanta. The loss was also Detroit's PAULINE LUBENSDetrolt Free Press See PISTONS, Page 4D Indiana's Wayman Tisdale and the Pistons' Dennis Rodman battle for a rebound Thursday night. Evans given Tigers' last offer, Lajoie says U-M ironed flat by OSU press, 95-87 By TOMMY GEORGE 2VJ i i I I Power sources Darrell Evans (above) has a combined 69 home runs in the last two seasons.

Only Philadelphia's Mike. Schmidt has more. Here are the top home-run hitters in the major leagues spanning 1985 and 1986. Note that three of the eight players listed Evans, Dave Kingman and Steve Balbonl are without a team for 1987. By GENE GUIDI Free Press Sports Writer Free agent first baseman Darrell Evans has received the Tigers' final offer on a one-year contract for 1987, general manager Bill Lajoie said.

"It's up to Darrell now," Lajoie said Thursday. "I talked to him earlier this week, and I told him that the offer was our last. It's all there's going to be." Lajoie didn't reveal the amount, but sources said it was about $500,000. Evans earned $760,000 in base salary last season on the last year of a three- Cards won't pursue Lance Parrlsh. Page 2D.

EVANS BECAME A free agent when the Tigers decided not to offer him a contract by the Dec. 20 deadline. Had the Tigers offered Evans a contract, he would have been eligible for arbitration and couldn't have had his salary cut by more than 20 percent (to a minimum of Privately, the Tigers said they thought Evans stood a good chance of winning a raise in arbitration. Evans said he knew the Tigers were considering a strategy that would freeze him out of arbitration. "But I was hoping things wouldn't happen this way, especially considering the kind of year I had," said Evans, who hit a team-high 29 homers with 85 See DARRELL EVANS, Page 6D Free Press Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio State: punctured Michigan where it hurts: most in the paint, smack inthe heart and then rattled every remaining U-M fragment in whipping the Wolver-' ines, 95-87, Thursday night before 13,441 in St.

John Arena. The Wolverines, who had won six straight, had covered up their weakness inexperience inside before running into Ohio State. But the Buckeyes would have none of that. Ohio State's front, line scored 57 points, and its full-court press harassed and exasperated U-M, forcing 20 turnovers. The Wolverines dropped to 15-7 overall, 6-4 in the Big Ten.

OSU is 14-8 and 5-5. See MICHIGAN, Page 60 year contract. It believed that his agent, Jerry Kapstein, sought a raise from the Tigers for Evans. Player, '86 team 1986 HRs 1985 Total Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia 37 33 70 Darrell Evans, Detroit 29 40 69 Jesse Barfield, Toronto 40 27 67 Don Mattingly, Yankees 31 35 66 Dale Murphy, Atlanta 29 37 66 Dave Kingman, Oakland 35 30 65 Dave Parker, Cincinnati 31 34 65 Steve Balbonl, Kansas City 29 36 65 Evans said Thursday that he was doing what all free agents do during the winter "talking and waiting. "I've been through this free-agent thing before, and it's no fun it's not something I enjoy," Evans said.

go, but it was a Panasonic, and I got it on sale. "Help!" I screamed. Micki came flying overhead with that huge knife and with one stab the crock was history. It slithered into the water. "OK," she said, pocketing the blade.

"Let's see this Cup. Then we make a movie, right?" "Hey," I said, "what's with this movie stuff? You haven't been talking to--" THE VOICES OF WINTER "Mick?" she said. "Crocodile Dundee?" "Yeah," I said. "Never 'eard of him," she said. Blaha: Georg living a dream Bruce Martyn: radio days The time was 50 years ago, and sometimes the temperatures reached minus-20.

This was winter in the Great White When it was cold outside, and dark, and when the winter winds piled the snow against the sides of his boyhood home in Marshalltown, Iowa, George Switchblade isn't a real knife We drove in my rent-a-car, through the Outback, through the bush. Damn bush ruined my windshield. We reached Perth where the Cup ceremony was taking place. But as we pulled up, the crowd was dispersing. "Too late," someone said.

"They've gone to the airport." We sped to the airport. The crowd was huge, thousands of weeping Australians come to see the Cup off. It looked impossible. "No worries, mate," said Micki. She lifted herself up and climbed on the heads of the crowd.

I followed behind, apologizing for my boot heels. The Cup was being carried to a Learjet by the Commodore of the San Diego Yacht club. Micki leaped in front of him. "So this is the mug, mate?" she said. "Mug me?" said the Commodore.

"No, you don't." He pulled out a switchblade. "Watch it! He's got a knife!" I yelled. Micki laughed. "Aw, that's not a knife," she said, reaching in her pouch. 'This is a knife And so the America's Cup is now safely back in the Royal Perth Yacht Club.

Several hundred people come to see it each day. Micki is a national hero, and has settled into a two-bedroom condo overlooking the Indian Ocean. She has a new line of signature cutlery coming out, and when she is not sleeping, or cooking yams, she is working on her screenplay. She has found the perfect ghostwriter. I get 10 percent.

Blaha found warmth and a dream inside the family radio. "Ever since I was 8, 10, 12 years old looking inside the radio, and you saw that little gold light in there and you heard the guy doing the game and you could almost see the court, I always wanted to be North during the Great Depression and World War II. But a boy named Bruce, living in the Soo, felt warm and wealthy, safe and happy. The family had a radio a big, dark, tabletop model with tubes glowing in the back and lots of buttons on the front. loe Lepnlnte Charlie Vincent that guy and now I am.

And I'm very, very happy doing it," said Blaha, the Pistons' radio and television voice for the past 1 1 seasons. Generations of youngsters have shared a similar dream. I did. I would take a water glass from the cupboard, hold it close to my mouth See GEORGE BLAHA, Page 7D "It was the centerpiece of the living room," Bruce Martyn recalled. Saturday nights on Canadian station CJIC, there came through the frosty air a nasal voice speaking Canadian English sometimes shrieking it above the roar of the big-city crowd.

See BRUCE MARTYN, Page 7D MARY SCHROEDERDetrolt Free Press Bruce Martyn is in his 23d season with the Red Wings. George Blaha has called Pistons games for the past 1 1 seasons. A..