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Show I $ WEEK S TV GUIDE cene '75 THURSDAY, AM. 14, RONALD REAGAN 1I7S CLASSIFIEDS FEATURES along the bear river PAUL HARVEY SJPPLEMENT NEWS EXAMINER, PRESTON CITIZEN. CACHE CITIZEN. GRACE CITIZEN AND THE LEADER GARLAND TIMES TO THE Pumping Gas , Basketball - NBA Bulls' Coach DickMofta BOATER8 ON Bear Lake can be seen from Dick Motta'i back yard. By ROBERT MERRILL What does a basketball and a man at Fish Haven pumping gas, washing windshields and peddling a little bit of fishing tackle have in common? A lot when you find the owner-operatof the store is Dick Mot la, coach of the NBA Chicago Bulls. Coach Motta, who has had the store since July said, Coaching is a hazardous profession. An investment like the storegives a coach a lot more freedom and it is certainly better than sitting around all summer doing nothing. Motta's store is a real general store. It has just about anything anyone would want to buy, from a . and post office to most everything in between. It gives the kids, (Motta has three children: Kip, who is 16, 13 year old Jodi, and Kirt, 8) a good opportunity to work and find out what a business is all about, said Motta. The store opens at 8 a.m. and doesnt close until 10 p.m. Kip and Jodi both put in four hour shifts at the cash register. We keep the store open as long as we do in the summer because thats when the majority of the money is made. In the winter, things really slow down. You cant make a fortune on the store, they knew me. In the meantime, I was out pumping gas and washing the cars windshield. When the family came out of the store they couldn't believe it. They even made me pose for pictures! Motta comes from Midvale, Utah, and went to ' Jordan High. His wife is from Grace, Idaho. He graduated from USU' in 1953, coached at Grace Junior went in the High 1953-5service for two years, nd then coached at Grace ftigh School from 1956-5In 1960, he wentto Weber State College find coached there until 1968. In 1969, he went to the Chicago Bulls and has been there for seven years. Coaching the Bulls is a great experience. The NBA 4, 9. but its darn good security," said Motta. Just a little while ago, he said, a family from Illinois stopped in at the store and remarked to my son that , : A? V Iw - .. V' jfA- - '.v , v-- J , if iJL' . . ''' -- , is the best league world. It really is a in the opportunity, con- sidering I didnt play college ball. The job is long and hard though. We played 104 games last season. Its a great challenge trying to get your team ready for guys like Havlichek and Russel. Its a great feeling to coach against rival teams in the NBA and survive, he said. Motta explained that it was quite an adjustment for the family to move to a large city like Chicago. There are 12 million people within a one-hodrive of the coliseum. We didn't change our lifestyle though. We live in a relatively small suburb outside of Chicago. The Motta family said they really like the Bear Lake area so far and have become acquainted with a lot of the local people. They have been at their present location for five years and have recently built on an attractive lakeside lot. We looked around for a year to find some place we would like and ended up here, said Motta. So far we like it fine. DICK MOTTA, coach of the Chicago Bulls. The Mottas, if everything goes as planned, plan on living at their Bear Lake home in Fish Haven year round in three or four years. Motta has three years left on his 10 year contract with the Bulls. After his contract is up. he can retire with full pension benefits. |