7
The Battalion
SPORTS
Thursday, May 4,1989
Jones errs in personnel moves
Astros fall to Expos
on Owen’s home run
IRVING (AP) —Jerry Jones told
Doug Todd it wouldn’t be a pleasant
meeting.
It wasn’t. Within five minutes, the
Dallas Cowboys’ public relations wiz
ard for 18 years was gone. So was
Jones’ credibility as having the
slightest clue of what’s good for the
new Cowboys.
. It took Tex Schramm 29 years to
build the team. Jones is succeeding
in razing the monuments in three
short months.
AP Analysis
Landry was fired and Schramm
fled the premises to the Interna
tional Football League.
Then Jones fired one of the Cow
boys’ prime image makers, the classy
Todd.
Todd was the kind of guy you
need to have around an NFL club.
Gifted with a world class sense of
humor, Todd had a way of getting
players to cooperate for media inter
views.
He once chided Randy White for
being a sourpuss interview.
“Randy, you’re never going to
make All-Pro if you don’t learn to
cooperate with the media,” Todd
told him. “You’re just hurting your
self.”
The light bulb went on for White
and he became cooperative. White
made All-Pro nine times and
thanked Todd for helping him do
so. .
Todd was credibility. He wouldn’t
tell little white fibs as some PR peo
ple have been known to do. If he
told you something, you could be
lieve it.
Jones’ explanation to Todd was
that he needed to cut costs.
Oh. This comes from someone
who paid Troy Aikman $2 million
more than he had to and infuriated
other NFL owners by jacking up the
first round of the draft pay scale.
“I didn’t realize I was making that
much,” Todd said. “I hadn’t had a
pay raise in three years.”
The manner in which Jones has
been firing longtime members of the
front office since he bought the team
on Feb. 25 has bordered on ruthless.
Instead of telling the marked men
all at one time, he picked them off
separately, like a sniper firing from a
tree top.
He hung Landry out to dry, let
ting him work up to the last minute
while he and coach Jimmy Johnson
were celebrating at a Dallas restau
rant.
Longtime treasurer Don Wilson
was axed without warning a day be
fore Todd was terminated.
The next day the director of pho
tography, Bob Friedman, got it.
Longtime assistant ticket manager
Ann Lloyd was fired.
Todd’s firing was a surprise be
cause he had worked well with John
son. The week before he was let go,
Todd made a trip to New York City,
finding the top columnists and writ
ers to interview Aikman.
Johnson didn’t stand in the way.
Now Todd has cleaned out his
desk and left with his two Super
Bowl championship rings.
Amazingly, Todd wasn’t given a
chance by the new regime to put his
expertise on display.
Jones, apparently, feels he knows
all there is to know about public rela
tions.
Take draft day, for example,
when he told a national television
audience over ESPN that Aikman
“still has to make the team.”
It was a big hoot. It’s well docu
mented that Aikman already has a
two-year GUARANTEED contract.
Also, he signed for a $2.7 million bo
nus which has already been paid.
Aikman isn’t about to be sent
packing with $5 million of Jones’
funds.
It’s not too late, Jerry. Call Todd
and hire him back. Then start clear
ing some of your ridiculous
statements through Todd before
you make ’em public.
It was quick-witted Todd who
coined the phrase “America’s Team”
for NFL films. During the 1970s,
that’s just what the Cowboys became
— “America’s Team.” It was Todd’s
brainstorm.
Todd and what once was “Ameri
ca’s Team” are no more.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
At Montreal, Spike .Owen hit a
two-run homer in the 11th inning,
rallying the Montreal Expos over
Houston Astros 6-5.
The Astros took a 5-4 lead in the
top of the 11th on Ken Caminiti’s
run-scoring single before Montreal
came back.
Nelson Santovenia singled with
one out and Owen hit a 2-0 pitch
from Juan Agosto for his second
home run.
Tim Burke, 3-1, got the victory.
Agosto, 0-1, was the sixth Houston
pitcher.
Glenn Davis singled in the Astros’
11th and pinch runner Eric Yelding
advanced on a sacrifice.
Kevin Bass was intentionally
walked and Caminiti singled with
two outs.
Other Major League Results:
Braves 6, Phillies 3
At Atlanta, rookie John Smoltz
pitched a six-hitter and hit his first
career home run as the Atlanta
Braves ended an eight-game losing
streak, beating the Philadelphia Phil
lies 6-3.
Reds 6, Mets 4
At New York, Chris Sabo snapped
a seventh-inning tie with a sacrifice
fly and Barry Larkin followed with
another sacrifice fly leading the Cin
cinnati Reds past the New York Mets
6-4.
Blue Jays 2, Athletics 0
At Toronto, Mike Flanagan
pitched a four-hitter for his 19th ca
reer shutout as the Toronto Blue
Jays beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0.
Indians 6, Royals 2
At Cleveland, shortstop Kurt Stil
lwell dropped Joe Carter’s two-out
pop fly, allowing two runs score dur
ing a three-run fourth inning, as
Cleveland beat Kansas City 6-2 and
snapped the Royals’ four-game win
ning streak.
Mariners 3, Tigers 2
At Seattle, Jim Presley hit his first
home run in 207 at-bats and rookie
Erik Hanson allowed four hits in 6 2-
3 innings as the Seattle Mariners
beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 to com
plete a three-game sweep.
NBA Playoffs make season m-o-n-o-t-o-n-o-u-s, not exciting
W\U it ever end?
As the NBA playoffs drag on, alternative
systems become more attractive.
The NBA needs a playoff system, but
there’s got to be a better way.
I admit I’m not the world’s most avid
basketball fan. But let’s face it, the regular
season is long enough. Six months worth of
basketball is more than enough for most
fans.
Then the playoffs tack almost two
months on to the season.
I realize fans want to see their team in the
playoffs, but a team that doesn’t have a
good year doesn’t deserve to be in the
postseason anyway.
Most basketball fans I’ve talked to have
agreed the problem is that the NBA
playoffs are too long. With the long season,
fans lose interest, the players get burned
out and they have a greater chance of being
injured.
The NBA playoffs also run into the first
two months of baseball season, forcing
media attention to be divided between the
two sports.
One of the most frustrating aspects of
early-season baseball is turning on HSE to
find the Rangers game has been bumped
off by another Rockets playoff game. That’s
why I consistently root against the Rockets
and Mavericks.
Another reason to hate the current NBA
playoff system is that it creates boredom.
Granted, some people are tired of
basketball long before the season ends, but
the drawn-out playoffs only add to fan
boredom.
However, the strongest argument against
the current NBA playoff system is that it
makes a mockery of the regular season.
Sixteen teams get to play in the playoffs.
Being the best team in the NBA for six
months doesn’t assure a team of even
having a shot at the championship.
And worse, a team that hardly reaches
the .500 mark has a chance to eliminate the
best teams in the league. All it takes is a key
injury or a lucky streak.
Take Portland for example. The
Trailblazers lost seven of their last eight
games of the season, lost four games more
than they won during the year and still
made the playoffs.
How about Golden State? They lost their
last six games, were only four games over
.500 and somehow made the second season.
However, Utah Jazz fans may be the
maddest about Golden State’s playoff
fortunes. The Jazz were swept by the
Warriors in the first round.
So why play over 80 games in the regular
season, if they count for almost nothing?
The reason is money. NBA owners claim
they barely break even on ticket revenue
during the regular season. However,
playoff revenue gives the owners a wider
profit margin.
Owners also support the 16-team playoff
system because it gives their team a chance
to make the playoffs in years when they are
not among the top four teams in their
conference.
Therefore, owners almost unanimously
have been against any reform of the playoff
system.
Obviously, any move to change the
playoff system will have to come from
outside the ownership circle.
So, I’ve taken it upon myself to propose a
better way.
First, we do away with the 16-team
format. Eight teams are more than enough.
Then, take the champions from each
division as automatic qualifiers.
Next, two teams from each conference
with the next best records would receive
berths similar to the NFL wildcard playoff
system. From there it would be a simple
eight-team tournament, with the champion
team that has the best record being seeded
first in each conference.
Hey, it may not be original, but it sure
beats the current system.
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