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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1978)
Page 12 THE BATTALION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1978 Bench attempting to spark Cincinnati United Press International NEW YORK — No major-league manager will ever tell yon which one of his players is his personal favorite any more than any father or mother will tell you which one of their kids they like over the others. Sparky Anderson, the Reds’ man ager, is no different. He will tell you he loves all his players and he probably does. He likes to think of them all as his friends. For nine years now, or ever since he became Cincinnati man ager, Anderson has considered Johnny Bench that way. That’s why it came as a surprise to him when a Cincinnati writer called his attention to a recent newspaper story in which Bench suggested that he, meaning Anderson, should be taking part of the blame for the lackluster showing of the Reds this season. They’re a disappointing third and Bench was quoted as say- ing: “Our manager is too low key. This is one man’s opinion, but Sparky has withdrawn from it all. Intimidated isn’t exactly the word, but it’s close. He is too hurt, perhaps in awe of When he was shown the story, Sparky Anderson did not overreact. He wanted to hear Bench’s side of it, so he called him into his office. Bench did not say he was mis quoted. He told Anderson the quotes were his, but that they did not convey the actual sense in which he had said them by the way they were written. “I said those words,” Bench said to Anderson, “but the reason I did was to get us going, to stir us up. I’ve told you many times that you’re awful good to us. Maybe too good sometimes. I never meant to imply anything derogatory about your managing. I was only trying to shake the guys up, including myself.” Sparky Anderson understood what Johnny Bench was saying. He understood him so well that there wasn’t an ounce of anger or resent ment in him. “John was right in what he said and I know exactly why he said what he did,” the Reds’ manager says. ‘He has had a lot of problems with injuries. That can get you down mentally and when that happens, it makes you feel frustrated. There’s no doubt in my mind or anyone else’s that he’s the greatest catcher of our time. He’s tremendously cap able but when you can’t perform at the level you’re capable of, it eats at you and you flare up and say things. “John and I have had many disag reements in the past and in matters far more important than that story in the newspaper, Anderson goes on. “The story will never take away any- Missouri has the Powers that believes United Press International KANSAS CITY, Mo. —- Warren Powers paid $55,000 for the oppor tunity to coach football at Missouri this year. And after one week of the 1978 season, the 37-year-old former Oakland Raiders defensive back has gotten his money’s worth. Powers was forced by Washington State, whom he guided to a 6-5 re cord in his college head coaching debut last year, to buy his way out of the final three years of his contract before he could depart for Missouri. The two parties reached agreement at $55,000 to be paid over a three- year period. But that money suddenly seems a pittance after Powers guided his Ti gers to a shocking 3-0 victory over defending national champion Notre Dame at South Bend Saturday in the season-opener for both teams. For master-minding the victory. Powers Wednesday was named UP Is Coach of the Week. Ironically, Powers also received UPTs Coach of the Week honors in the opener of the 1977 season when he directed Washington State to a 19-10 road victory against Nebraska, his alma mater. "I had about the same feeling after both games,” said Powers of his two season-opening victories. “It was a similar satisfaction. You’re new on the job and you’re trying to teach the kids a new philosophy, a new idea. You are trying to get them to have faith and confidence in what they are doing. A win like this helps.” Sophomore Jeff Brockhaus supplied Missouri with the lone points of the game when he booted a 33-yard field goal with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter. Just as important a factor in the win was the Missouri defense, which three times held on fourth-and-one situations in the sec ond half — once when the ball was resting 12 inches from the Tiger end zone. Dame would have to go a ways to beat us. “But I didn’t think we could shut them out. You don’t shut out a team like Notre Dame.” "The kids were ready,” Powers said. "I didn’t have to say much to th em. I told them not to go out there and think: just go out and react and play as well as they could. I thought if we played well, Notre It was the first time Notre Dame had been shut out at home since 1960 and the first time the Irish had been shut out any where since 1965, snapping a string of 132 straight point-producing games. It was only the 10th time Notre Dame has lost at South Bend in the last 15 seasons. thing from the friendship he and 1 have. Honest differences of opinion will never separate true friends. I know what he was trying to do. He was crying out in his heart, ‘Damn it, let’s get going!”’ As far as some of those things Bench said, Anderson agrees he has overlooked certain faults among the Reds this year. “I’ve put one patch over my eye and one ear muff over my ear," he says. “When John says I’ve with drawn, he’s right about that, too, because I don’t leave my office as much as I used to. You do it and do it and do it and then you get tired of it, telling the guys the same old thing over and over again, and fi nally you say you’re not going to do it anymore. That’s what I think he means by my being more with drawn . ” In his own way, Johnny Bench was trying to help Sparky Anderson. The Reds’ manager says he knows that. He also knows he’s still a good manager. He doesn’t have to say that because the record says it for him. Since taking over the Reds in 1970, he’s led them to two world championships, four pennants and five division titles. Anderson is the most successful manager Cincinnati Sparky Anderson AUS' has ever had and only niii(B exa: managers in majorleagueM 1 St show a better winning pm P 1 * "I ’m the same guy now as unpaig first took over as manager■ ar l* € Reds," he says. "I’ve wonm»P ai i and I’ve lost my way an(HP I! ? us want any sympathy becausen it too good and I'll be u■? 0 . rt, again. This season wevebeeM* is i rible. We ve played poorb M's th; tin 1 Dodgers heat us againtbB n< ^ ei then they’re the better team think we base a chance, lew l) l t ~oui Landry-Alien rivalry missed Explosive Cowboys please coach United Press International DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys offense can strike in quite a few ways and have the first two weeks of the NFL season. Their 72 points are easily the most produced in the league. But Coach Tom Landry wishes to point out Dallas looked more like a hard-nosed team in its most recent outing and he likes that sign. “This team does have a lot of explosivness, Landry said Tuesday. “It’s like our 1966 team when we tent ball club.” But whether Dallas is explosive or consistent, it has been getting the job done on offense and that should not come as any great shock. “When you win the Super Bowl everybody knows your potential,” Landry said. “We’ve looked pretty good for two games. But it is a long season.” That season continues Sunday with a key matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, one that was origi nally looked forward to because of the rivalry between Landry and George Allen. That matchup, however, will not come about. “I’ll miss competing with Allen," Landry said. “When you played against his teams it brought out the best in your clubs because they knew the opposition would be play ing up to its best. “But that’s not the case anymore so we should not dwell on it.” The Rams are 2-0 thus far under Coach Ray Malavasi, who replaced the dismissed Allen two games deep in the preseason. “I think this will be a tough, well-played game,” the Rams coach said. "I think we can do something offensively and I’m sure Dallas feels the same way. “It (coaching the Rams) has been exciting thus far. I was surprised as anybody else when I got the job. It s the kind of thing I’ve been looking for all my life and if you can’t stand the pressure you don’t belong in the National Football League.” ;nt. Real Armadillos would never bite your ankle had great explosiveness. But explo sion was not what we had going for us last Sunday (in a 34-24 victory over the New York Giants). “We were executing in that game. We were converting third downs and short yardage situations and that is what you need to be a consis- The Battalion Classified 845-2611 That s because Real Armadillos don’t have hard shells — they’re made of soft natural leathers just waiting to surround your feet in casual comfort And Real Armadillos would never hide in ^ your closet — they’re so handsome you’ll want to walk them everywhere. *36 but the most important thins Real Armadillos are made only by ^Morgan Quinri to H0UI ired Un :ial pleai rauu cli GENTLEMAN'S QUARTER 3705 E. 29th 846-1706 (TOWN & COUNTRY CENTER) nsiise i Ittent fu [ Patri< Calif, < lict Jud iansfer mtionl hia Ban! ■Sulliv; well, 34 ilty to eed \ iators ] iThe cl le of $i J01,00( Sullivan ■ver th Be rest ’Hama TAMU MSC TOWNH^f^J SERIES ATTRACTION SEPTEMBER 29, 1971 G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM 8:00 P.M. 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