University of Virginia Library

The Sports Scene

Departmental
Thinking

By Bob Cullen

FLAME DEPARTMENT. Personally we find it hard to
believe that the Rapier editors could have executed their heist
of the Olympic flame in the manner they indicated. If, as we
suspect, the entire affair was a plot to gain publicity for a
magazine that hopes to go nationwide, we don't think that any
harm has been done. And as publicity gambits go, the Rapier
effort deserves some credit for originality and flawless
execution. The entire operation had a welcome flair and style.

On the other hand, we find it hard to understand the
positions of those self-righteously indignant members of the
community who felt called upon to condemn the Rapier men
either for absconding with the flame or for trying to convince
the world they did. It was a good joke, something that the
Olympics should not be above. Any institution that is too big to
laugh at is, in our opinion, too small to respect.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP DEPARTMENT. Despite
the fact that Saturday's victory over Navy will count in the
conference standings, it will still require an improbable chain of
events for the Cavaliers to take the ACC championship. NC
State, after thrashing Maryland in Raleigh, is firmly on top with
a 5-0 conference ledger. They have but two ACC games left to
play, with the big one against Clemson this Saturday in Raleigh.

The Tigers, with a 1-0-1 conference record are the only team
left on the State schedule with much of a chance to stop the
Wolfpack. If they do, however, either Maryland, UNC, or South
Carolina would have to upset Clemson to keep Frank Howard
from annexing another ACC title. And even if all this were to
happen, Virginia would have to win all the rest of its ACC
games, and Duke would have to upset NC State for the Cavaliers
to take the championship. We're not saying that it can't happen,
but we wouldn't bet the rent money on it.

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS DEPARTMENT. Ed Hardy,
who along with Vince Derr organized the fund drive for a new
track last spring, has informed us that while the donations are
not exactly pouring in, the fund is steadily progressing toward
its goal. In addition to the $25,000 that Mr. Sebo kicked in
from Athletic Department funds, another $15,000 has come in
over the past few months. All of it, however, has come from
small donors, and while their contributions are indeed
appreciated, the fund really needs someone with a lot of money
and the desire to immortalize himself by having the track named
after him. It could be arranged for a paltry $100,000.

The status of the proposed swimming and baseball facilities is
about the same, although the financial problems are a bit
different. Since a new pool could be used for teaching purposes,
government grants are applicable to its cost. Unfortunately,
applicability does not guarantee availability, and until the war in
Vietnam is over, there will not be a great deal of money
flowing out of Washington to finance swimming pools. At last
report, swimming coach Ralph Law had turned down proposals
that he lead and anti-war demonstration in front of the
Pentagon, figuring that if the condition of the water in the
present pool should start an epidemic, Federal emergency funds
would be released to build the new pool.

FOOTBALL FEVER DEPARTMENT. An encouraging
number of Virginia fans have been showing up at away football
games this season. There is even a small number of devotees
who, having driven out to Lafayette for the Purdue game,
decided there was really no reason for them to miss any of the
other games on the Cavaliers' schedule, and to date, with only
the North Carolina game in Chapel Hill remaining, these
enthusiastic Virginia supporters have seen every minute of play.

We don't think that such enthusiasm should go unrewarded.
It would be a fine gesture if the Athletic Department could,
with appropriate ceremony, present those people who had seen
all ten games with some sort of certificate, and perhaps a free
date ticket to one of the events in University Hall. If they only
had a few thousand more like them, the Athletic Department
might well be on its way to a greater degree of financial
solvency than it now possesses.

YOUTHFUL TALENT DEPARTMENT. It cannot be argued
that the decision by the ACC to permit freshmen to compete on
a varsity level in all sports but football and basketball has been a
great boon to Virginia athletics. Two good cases in point are this
year's cross country and soccer teams. Three of the top four
Cavalier harriers in all of this season's meets have been first-year
men, with Greg Lane the top performer. The soccer team is
replete with first-year men,. In last week's 8-2 romp over Duke,
seven of the eight goals were scored by yearling performers,
among them Jay Connor and John Mehrtens. Mehrtens scored a
hat trick against Duke, the first Virginia player in our memory
to get three goals in a single game.

We wonder whether this frosh power is due to the fact that
the youngsters are more talented than their predecessors or
whether it is merely that they have not been here long enough
to be exposed to the more dissipating aspects of University life.