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Show By MIKE JACOBSEN Tliere has been a great deal of adverse criticism concerning the second nCidents of the Utah-New Mexico basketball game last Saturday, '"ticular, the debris thrown on the court and the punch thrown by jffOckel which decked Lobo Greg Howard. ntend that what went on the second half was the best thing that has d t0 utah basketball since the Redskins placed fourth in the two years ago. Not since then have Salt Lake fans shown so much ftusiasm at an athletic event and pulled so hard for their team. It was f iejing and cheering of the crowd, not the debris and fighting, that 16 died out" New Mexico and gave Utah the incentive to win. As Ute onvard Don Denson put it, "All that yelling was really great. I could el that it was affecting New Mexico and causing a let down. We just Wd to win it for the fans." Sure, there was some debris thrown on the court, At most, a total If ten people got so excited that they threw whatever was near them from Viairbrushs to coins. But how can anyone condemn 4,661 people for the ! itctions of ten. John Mooney, Sports Editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, did Icondemn the 4,661, however, and he went so far as to degrade all Utah ' itapporters. He made a statement something to the fact that Utah should ' vlet the Olympics bid so we could throw stuff on the runs and boo the ',4 skaters, then the home guys might do better. I'm surprised that a Sports ) 1 Editor of a paper with such-wide circulation would be so l.vesponsible ; j as to make a statement such as that, and then print it. j Condemn 4,661 For Actions Of 10? f It's quite baffling as to why Mr. Mooney has spent so much time and effort to condemn Utah basketball players and supporters after what happened Saturday. He's allowed the actions of ten people to overshadow !all the good fan support and the accomplishments of this year's Runnin Redskins. For a team that was picked fourth in the conference, they've ' done quite well, a fourth in the nation ranking, and presently tied for first in the conference. The players have got a lot of guts; time atfer lime they have fought back when no one gave them a chance of winning, irl and pulled the game out. ' Mr. Mooney has made a number of trips to New Mexico to cover basketball games. How do the fans there treat visiting teams? Hardly a game goes by that stuff isn't thrown at the players and coaches. What m about the Wyoming - Colorado State basketball game in Fort Collins Jan. m 6 Fans "broke onto the court and began fighting, and they had to play i he national anthem to break them up. I'm not saying this is right, I'm ani merely trying to point out that what happened Saturday is insignificant compared to what goes on these two places. Yet, how many people know 3f these crowd reactions? Mr. Mooney, you have done an excellent job m informing people of your opinions on last Saturday's game. H When the announcement of DeWitt Menyard's basketball ineligibility S-as made last Spring, Utah's basketball hopes were crushed. There was Jf!? one to take his place, and it was too late to recruit a good big man ' it Jeff Ockel decided he would be the needed center, and he worked hard 0 ail summer. Many people believe lie is best post man in the conference, (S.FJnd his 12 rebounds and 12 points per game substantiate that. Still, Ockel 'has drawn nothing but adverse criticism from local sports writers. Hid Howard Not Very Popular he Greg Howard, although only a sophomore, is disliked by almost every I opposing player and coach in the WAC. He is noted for his dirty play and elbowing. He has also started two fights one against an Arizona player, where Howard broke the Arizonan's jaw, and one with Jim Eakins h. of BYU. Howard knocked Eakins down, but didn't break anything. Sat--turday Howard had been elbowing Ockel all day, and he finally touched off a reaction when he firmly placed his elbow in Ockel's back after a P- rebound. Ockel reacted by hitting Howard in the side of the head with M an open hand and decking the Lobo. Although no one encourages fighting, ill's there's only so much a person can take without retaliating, and Howard 14): now knows how much Ockel can take. ible 1 ide j It's now obvious that Ockel is the heavyweight champion of the WAC. Howard held the title with victories over Arizona and BYU opponents, ter then Ockel won it with a knock-down. But Ockel is a senior, and Utah only has a short time to retain the- championship. But there is a senior ' at South High School in the city that Coach Gardner could possibly recruit. re-cruit. His name is Dave Borup, and he obtained his reputation by his actions in a game with East High. School. He knocked out an East player with one punch, knocked the assistant football coach to his knees with 1 one punch, then wound up and just missed East's basketball coach j with a swing that would have put him in the hospital.. Stan Watts of J BYU and Bruce Larson of Arizona have probably already started an intensive recruiting program to get Borup. Mr. Mooney, you made a gross error in your report of the fighting 1 incident in last Sunday's Tribune. You said it was Sanford that Ockel l decked, not Howard. If we. were to use the same logic you did in con- demning Utah fans for the actions of ten, we would condemn your spprts staff and your paper because of your 'single error. Aren't you happy that iwe are not narrow-minded, that we all of a sudden didn't forget all the ' good articles you have written. . , 1 - . . ' 1 ' ' JEFF OCKEL . . WAC heavyweight champ |