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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1978)
■,y,v:‘ ■>■',■;•■• ' . -i '- v,,-..- Page 8 THE BATTALION TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1978 (Festival aver Aggies do well United Press International V COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The first National Sports Festival is over and Texas A&M was well represented in the nationwide event. Aggie volleyball players Wendy Wilson and Kristen Bloom left the festival with hon ors, as their South team won its tournament. Wilson, a sopho more, was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament and Bloom was selected as the best setter of the tournament. Both have been invited to play with the U.S. national team in the Pacific Rim Tournament in Hawaii later this month. Javelin thrower Donna Branch, basketball player Rudy Woods and the entire men’s water polo team also participated in the fesitval. The festival managed to run its four days without too many people outside the state of Col orado working up much of an interest, but the man in charge says it served its purpose. And he thinks it will do a lot more than that in the future. “I realize it is hard to get people s attention when you first start to do something,” said Baaron Pittinger, director of the festival. “But people are going to catch on. They are going to come around. We hope to have live television next year and that will probably help a great deal. “I think this year went very, very well. We learned things we needed to learn and it’s going to get better every year.’’ The 25-sport festival — a long-time idea of USOC Presi dent Robert J. Kane and finan cially backed by the Olympic Committee — is assured of at least one more year of existence. “We will be back next year,” Kane said. “That has already been decided. We are commit ted. ” The largest problems facing the USOC as it tides to make the summertime athletic festival a yearly affair are trying to lure the best athletes in each sport and the ever-present concern of financing. The Olympic Committee is counting on television revenue to help trim or eliminate the $1 million loss it had to absorb this year. And in an attempt to prevent conflicts in scheduling, the festi val will be held next year in Au gust after most of the national championships, after the Pan American Games and before the opening of school. A question concerning Yankees By MILTON RICHMAN United Press International NEW YORK — Now that it’s all over and the two of them are buddy-buddy again following a sur realistic chain of events which kept swinging somewhere between sheer farce and pure fantasy, everyone has the same question. Why? Why did George Steinbrenner, ordiharily a tough, iron-willed indi vidual with rocklike resolve, sud denly turn around after firing Billy Martin as manager of his New York Yankees’ ball club and hire him back again five days later? People are asking some other questions, too. Like, what happens to Reggie Jackson now? And will Billy Martin actually ever take over as manager again 18 months from now? But, let’s get back to the first one: What made George Steinbrenner change his mind? The answer isn’t quite as simple as it was made out to be in the news conference immediately following Saturday’s Old Timers’ Day celebra tion at Yankee Stadium. One of the aspects which wasn’t even mentioned, mostly because both men considered it strictly pri vate, was the mutual oath Stein brenner and Martin took together one day last week. It concerns Billy Martin’s health. The former and future Yankee manager can’t really be called a sick man but he has a condition, which if not properly taken care of, could appreciably shorten his life. Within the past year, doctors dis covered a spot on his liver and told him it probably came from drinking. They also told him he could help the condition if he quit drinking. By ordinary standards, Billy Mar tin isn’t a big drinker. I know a number of baseball men who drink twice as much as he does and it may be that they have liver problems also, but the majority of them we ren’t under the same continuous stress as Martin. As manager of the Yankees, Billy Martin felt the pressure of his job every day, the same way he felt it in the days he played second base for the Yankees. Some of those pres sures as manager were relieved with a couple of drinks after a tough ball game. Steinbrenner became aware of Martin’s health problem only re cently. When they talked about Martin’s coming back this past week, the Yankee owner came up with an idea to help Martin. They’d lick Martin’s problem to gether, Steinbrenner said. He would help Martin, but only on one condition — that he, meaning Mar tin, make a genuine conscious effort to help himself. Steinbrenner wasn’t asking for lip service now. He im pressed upon his ex-manager, in every possible way he could, that Martin himself was the key and if he made the effort, Steinbrenner would match it. That was a solemn promise the Yankee owner made Martin under stand. In turn, Martin promised he’d do everything he could to jus tify Steinbrenner’s faith in him. They took an oath together, even shook hands on it. George Steinbrenner can be rough as nails or soft as hotter. He was born on July 4, under the sign of Cancer the Crab, and one of the characteristics of Cancerians is that they can freeze you to death with their icy manner one minute and melt your heart away with their utter devotion the next. There were those around him who urged Steinbrenner to let Mar tin s departure stand after last week’s severance. “No,” said Steinbrenner. “When a man is down and has a problem, you don’t walk away from him. There is a time to be rigid and a time to be compassionate.” This shouldn’t be taken to mean Steinbrenner wasn’t aware of the mood of the people, the legion of Yankee fans who were unhappy over what happened to Martin. By doing what he did, rehiring Martin for 1980, Steinbrenner made the perfect public relations move. He softened public opinion against him and bought time. That brings up the subject of Re ggie Jackson, the controversial Yan- Ongais, Mears return to TWS for Texas Grand Prix The eleventh race for the In dianapolis Championship cars of the United States Auto Club Citicorp Cup, the Texas Grand Prix, will he held at Texas World Speedway, south of College Station, on Stin- day. This, the Second Annual Texas Grand Prix will be a 200-mile race on the world’s fastest speedway. This is the first in a series of arti cles on the top contenders ex pected to compete in Sunday's race, which is scheduled to start at 3:15 p. m. He is known as Danny On Gas, and that he is. Danny Ongais is the most promis ing new star on the Citicorp Cup Series horizon. In 1977, he was the fastest qualifier for four US AC Championship races and, in 1978, he has been on the pole for almost every race, led every race, and won three races, including the Coors 200 at Texas World Speedway in April. Prior to that time, he’d recorded a pair of 13th place finishes in his only two Texas World Speedway appear ances, both last year, but he led five the 1978 season and is a top threat for victory in the Texas Grand Prix, but nobody has ever before won both Texas Indv Car races in the same year. He gained his first National Championship victory in a 200- miler at Michigan International Speedway last season and recorded the fastest lap in the history of the Indianapolis 500 during competition in May of that year. His primary experience was gained in dragsters, but he’s now branching out into all types of rac ing. Danny Ongais laps of the July race after winning the pole at 205.421 m.p.h. He won the pole for the Coors 200 last April at 211.889 m.p.h. USAC’s National Championship “Rookie of the Year” in 1977, Ongais finished 12th in his first full season of competition. He’s again assigned to the Interscope Racing Special for Rick Mears gained the distinction of winning his first Championship Car race earlier this year at Mil waukee. He joined a select group and put himself in the top ten in the Citicorp Cup point standings even though he sat out four of the first Rick Mears eight races while Mario Andretti drove the car. Mears was named the 1976 USAC National Championship “Rookie of the Year”, finishing eighth in his very first Indianapolis 5(X) that year. He didn’t race in the Coors 200 but started the last three races at Texas World Speedway, placing seventh in last July’s American Parts 200. He’ll drive the Gould Charge Special as a teammate to LTSAC Na tional Champion and Citicorp Cup winner Tom Sneva. Mears’ primary experience has been gained in off-road racing events, and he has several major triumphs there. He converted that experience to the rugged Pikes Peak Hill Climb for a stunning victory in the “Race to the Clouds’ in 1976. Mears finished fifth in the Phoenix opener and a disappointing 23rd at Indianapolis because of mechanical problems, but came back with a second at Mosport be fore his win at Milwaukee. BEER GARDEN 4410 COLLEGE MAIN 4 BLOCKS NORTH OF CAMPUS 846-9438 ★ Open for Lunch at 11 a.m. - Mon. thru Sat. ★ Monday's 50c Beer Bust Starts at 7 p.m. ★ Tuesday is Shrimp Gumbo Day ★ Wednesday is Open Stage Night ★ Thurs.-Fri.-Sat. Ten Minutes Late Plays Evenings ★ Happy Hour is 4-7 Daily with Free Popcorn ★ Horseshoe Pitchin' and Porch Swings Every Day kee slugger some blame for what happened to Martin. Jackson says there’s “a 50-50 chance” he won’t be with the Yankees by the end of this More likely, there’s a 50-50 chance he won’t he with them by the end of next month. The logical club for him to move to is the Angels because they’d like him to beef up their hitting. It would be rather ap propriate for him to wind up in California because that originally achieved stardom In my opinion, Martin age the Yankees 18 monj now. True, a lot of things pen between now and thei Martin has his health then have the job. 1 think he’ll have hishei Billy Martin makes upli do something, he thinks else. Sun Theatres 333 University 846 The only movie in town Double-Feature Every Week Open 10 a.m.>2 a.m. Mon.-Sat. 12 Noon > 12 Midnight Sun No one under 18 Escorted Ladies Free BOOK STORE & 25c PEEP SHOWS MANOR EAST 3 THEATflt MANOR EAST MALL WALT DISNfjpHjgt PRODUCDOtt the mi HOT I£J1 COLD Hit maSMlk} "l ! work ( fon mi util the :the pvi wtorst