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Angeles, April 24, 1998 Vol., 10, No. 1 Dear Reader: During this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, CBS’s Jim Nantz and company reminded viewers on numerous occasions that the University of Utah had won its last "national championship" back in 1944. Utah did win the NCAA tournament that year. Winning the NCAA title in 1944, however, was not necessarily synonymous with being the best college team in the country. The National Invitational Tournament, in those days, was more prestigious than the NCAA event. Utah lost to Kentucky (sound familiar?) in the first round of the NIT. The Utes' season would have been over if not for a terrible auto accident suffered by the University of Arkansas team, opening a spot for Utah in the NCAA brackets. Utah, to its credit, later matched up against NIT champs St. John's, in the Red Cross benefit game, winning 43-36. The story you didn't hear is that the team generally regarded as the best in college basketball in 1944 did not play in either the NIT or NCAA tournament. Army, led by Dale Hall's 18.2 points per game, stormed to a 15-0 record, including a 49-36 regular season thrashing of St. John's. Unfortunately, the Black Knights never had the chance to prove their mettle in postseason play. Why is not exactly clear. Wartime restrictions limited the amount of travel done by military teams, but neither press reports from the time nor the sports information department at West Point can explain why the team did not play in the postseason. Despite their tournament absences, however, the West Pointers were voted the nation's best by the Helms Foundation Poll, the Premo Power Poll and the Converse/Dunkel ratings.
Hoosier Hysteria to Hoosier Who Cares? . . . This year the vaunted Indiana High School State Basketball Tournament made the transition from its traditional one-class format to a four-class format based on school enrollments. The decision to move to four separate class tournaments was supported mostly by small-school principals and athletic directors. It created a maelstrom of controversy, passion and debate. Now that the first year of the new format tournaments has ended, the debate rages back home again in Indiana. The fans, however, have made their feelings on the matter quite clear. Statewide attendance at both boys' and girls' tournaments was far below that of previous years. The final day of this year's boys' tournaments drew a total of 29,189 spectators (combining morning and afternoon sessions) to Indianapolis. That's a 46% decrease from 1997, the last year of the boys' single-class tournament, when the combined attendance was 54,030. Television viewing, at least around Indianapolis, fell even further. According to Nielsen Media Research figures published by the Indianapolis Star/News, the evening session of the boys’ state finals had a mere 4.0 rating among Indianapolis-area residents even though Indianapolis-area teams played in both games. This 4.0 rating represents a 73% decrease from the 1997 tournament when the final game had a 14.6 rating. Whether the new tournament format can some day generate the excitement of the old one remains to be seen. Add Hoosiers . . . In an attempt to appease critics of the multiple-class tournaments, the Indiana High School Athletic Association created a final Tournament of Champions pitting the class champions against each other. The results were dismal. First, as expected, both the boys' and girls' 4A (large schools) champions won easily. Indianapolis Pike, the boys' 4A champion overwhelmed 1A champ Lafayette Catholic, 87-44 in the final. On the girls' side things were no better. Powerful Martinsville, alma mater of the venerable John Wooden, embarrassed 1A winner Bloomfield 89-45 before handily defeating the 2A champ Southridge 74-61. Attendance figures were abysmal by Indiana standards. Only 3,393 showed up to watch the boys' final while approximately 2,000 or so came to see the girls'. Compare this to the single game attendance record for the state tournament of 41,046. Furthermore, estimated revenue from the state tournament was approximately $500,000 below previous years. Last add Hoosiers . . . The new format might not be the panacea that many small school principals and athletic directors had hoped. Instead of giving small rural public schools the chance to call themselves state champs the changeover might have given the real advantage to the urban private schools that have the ability to recruit student-athletes without district boundaries. Two of the three boys' champion teams in the smaller classes, 3A Indianapolis Cathedral and 1A Lafayette Catholic, are private Catholic schools. Speaking of small Indiana schools . . . Valparaiso, which slid into the men’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen this year on the sure shooting of Bryce Drew, looks to reap the benefits of its success. The Crusaders have landed some promising players including 6 foot 11 inch Marty Perry of Jacksonville, IL and 6 foot 10 inch Ivan Vujic of Croatia. Bryce's dad, coach Homer Drew, also has lured guards Milo Stovall of Kalamazoo, MI, Ryan Sexson of West Lafayette, IN and Greg Tonagel of LaPorte, IN. Stovall averaged over 26 points per game. Tonagel was an Indiana All-State selection. Sexson was an Honorable Mention choice in the Hoosier State.
Seen on the Internet . . . If you're one who likes to combine sport and government policy you might check out JudoWeb, "the web page dedicated to Judo and Income Tax Reform" (www.judoweb.com).
April is the cruelest month . . . SportsLetter doesn't promote commercial products, so we will let the people of the Danbury Mint tell you themselves. "Setting a new standard in sports figurines . . . The Catch, Willie Mays . . . The greatest catch in baseball history captured in a sculpture of unmatched realism . . . that will set a new standard by which all other sports figurines will be measured. The Catch is certain to be the envy of all who see it displayed in your home or office. You can acquire The Catch for the attractive price of of (sic) just $125." Plus, "as owner of The Catch you will have the option—but not the obligation—to acquire the additional sculptures in this historic collection at their original price." Gee, thanks! Say hey, just why is the Danbury Mint located in Norwalk anyway? Next time y'all are in Dallas stop by a local Tom Thumb, Winn-Dixie or Toot N' Totem and pick up a bottle of Pro Flow - "The Official Bottled Water of the NFL Retired Players." That's right. According to a company advertisement, drinking plenty of Pro Flow "compliments (sic) the healthy diet we all strive to achieve." Just ask Tony Dorsett, president of Pro Flow distributor, Touchdown Products, who advises us to "GO WITH THE FLOW, PICK UP A PRO." Dubious advice from a former Dallas Cowboy.
The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance held its annual convention earlier this month in Reno, Nevada. Among the presentations on this year’s program: "Cigar Rolling, Baseball, and Ballet: Grasping the Movement Essence Potential in Oral History Collection," "Defensercise Workout," "The University of Nevada: The Wolfpack Football Tradition," and "'Country 2000:' Swinging into the New Century with Multicultural Line Dancing."
And in the summer we knit socks . . . The 106th Holmenkollrenn was held March 13-15 at Oslo, Norway's Holmenkollen park and ski stadium. Every winter roughly 50,000 spectators make their way to see the ski jumping event, which highlights the festival. But the Holmenkollen isn't just for the stars of nordic skiing. Each year, 5,000-6,000 children don their skis for the Children's Holmenkollday, a series of age group cross country races for kids 8-12 which is the world's largest children's ski event. The young skiers can choose among three different trails, and no finish times are taken. Anyone wonder why Norway rules the sport?
Run for the Roses . . . This year's 124th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2 will mark the 25th anniversary of Secretariat's victory in the famous five-furlong race (ed. see correction, next issue. ten furlongs). The excellent equine still holds the Derby record in a time of 1:59 2/5. No other horse ever has broken 2:00 in the race. Now THIS is a party . . . Each year thirsty Derbygoers imbibe the traditional beverage, the mint julep. If tradition holds, the bars at Churchill Downs will dispense some 80,000 mint juleps, about 7,500 gallons worth. Making all those drinks will require some 60,000 tons of snow ice, 150 bushels of fresh mint and 8,000 quarts of Early Time Mint Julep ready-mix cocktail. By our estimation, one way or another revelers at Churchill Downs will quaff more than 1,200 gallons of bourbon come Derby Day. Oh, we forgot to mention the 2,000 kegs of beer. Party on, colonel!
Spare me . . . For those wishing to spend eternity playing their favorite sports, we just found the answer. The Canuck Sportsmen's Memorials of Des Moines, Iowa will help you remain close to your favorite sport forever by fashioning your final resting-place out of sporting equipment. According to the Winter 1998 issue of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame Newsletter, one late bowler had her ashes placed in a bowling ball, hoping to keep rolling on in this world. Alas, the sepulchral sphere was ruled unfit for future frames because it was not properly balanced. Gives new meaning to the phrase, "Knock 'em dead."
Another one bites the dust . . . When Umbro, the traditionalist soccer apparel maker, lost its prestigious sponsorship of Brazil's World Cup winning soccer team to Nike's blitzkrieg into the soccer market two years ago, it seemed as if the writing was on the wall. Indeed, it was. The March 25, 1998, issue of Sporting Goods Business reports that Umbro, as we know it, will virtually cease to exist. The Columbia, S.C.-based company is completely shutting down its U.S. operations, dismissing 500 employees in the process. Umbro's holding company, Stone Manufacturing, will keep the sales and marketing arm in the U.K., but seeks a brand licensee for the U.S.
Rock Lobster! Rocky served multiple duty representing the swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events of the 8th FINA World Swimming Championships held January 7-18, 1998, in Perth, Australia.
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