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Show Newspaper Thursday, March 12, 1981 PageBl Nordic Biathlon Race A They're fast on their feet, But oh, their eyesight! fy ' ir---0-& . -A ! , 'v:.i... Dave Hanscom, firing from the prone position, gets re-acquainted with a .22 calibre target rifle. By Frank Erickson Local Nordic skiers racing in the Wasatch Citizen's Series may be fast on skis, hut tfim; nrnoH lfcf Cntiir. day that they can't shoot worth beans. The annual biathlon a race combining cross-country skiing and shooting was held at the Deer Valley Resort near Park City. Thirty-five skiers tested their skill as marksmen in the contest sponsored by the Utah National Guard and the Utah Biathlon Association. The format of the six-kilometer six-kilometer race required skiers ski-ers to race a two-kilometer loop, shoot five rounds from a prone position at a two-inch diameter target 50 meters away, ski a second two kilometers and shoot another five rounds at a four-inch diameter target from a standing position, and then finish by skiing a third two-kilometer loop. Weapons used for what was dubbed "The Battle of Deer Valley" were .22 calibre target rifles supplied by the National Guard. Sharpshooting Wally Chambers of Salt Lake City had the best combined shooting-skiing score of the day. Racers were scored by taking their skiing time, and adding a one-minute penalty for each target missed. Chambers, who has been traveling across the United States all winter, competing in the biathlons, missed one target, giving him a score of 36:19. Finishing second overall and top among Park City locals was Jim Miller, who missed seven targets. Miller, pacifist vegetarian who hates guns, was among the better shooters. Steve Erickson Erick-son was the fastest skier of the day, but missed the target with all 10 shots and was penalized 10 minutes, pushing him into third place. But Erickson's marksmanship marksman-ship was average for the day, as most racers missed either all or nine out of ten of the targets. The dearth of deadeyes was attributable to lack of shooting experience amone participants, and the challenge chal-lenge of steadying a rifle on a target while breathing hard after skiing a fast lap. John Clayton was the top Parkite in the M-4 category, placing fourth, a fete accomplished ac-complished not without problems. pro-blems. On his first round of shooting, he picked up a rifle that had the center post missing from the front side. The degree this handicapped him was never learned, however, as the wind blew the target from the score-keeper's score-keeper's hand and John was automatically penalized for five misses. The M-4 category cate-gory was won by Marv Melville, a National Guard biathlon team member from Ogden, who missed only three shots. Park City women Carol Morgan and Marsha Groth finished first and second in the W-4 class, each hitting the target once. Morgan was ahead of Ellen Gibson, who finished first among women overall, until her gun jam-men jam-men while firing from the standing position, causing several minutes delay. Marsha's young son, Cameron Cam-eron Symonds, was somewhat some-what overwhelmed by the heavy-barrelled target rifle, but with the help of expert biathloner Rune Wallin, managed to fire off his 10 shots. Wallin, who participated in his first biathlon in 1947 in Sweden, is the coach of the Utah National Guard team. He is an avid promoter of the sport and recently helped organize the Utah Biathlon Association, which co-sponsored Saturday's event. "The Russians have 30,000 biathletes from which they pick two 12-man national teams," Wallin said in his opening remarks. "In the O.S., we have 300 biathletes to pick our teams from." "If you want a challenge, try biathlon," he added. It was a statement competitors, competi-tors, most of whom missed the majority of targets, could not take issue. J J -" V , iff - National Guard biathlon coach Rune Wallin (right), steadies the rifle for young Cameron Symonds. M John Clayton plugs a target that the wind later blew away before it could be scored. ,m i nip 5.; -v;. 1 - Nw I I I Marsha Groth prepares to fire from the standing position. by Jim Murray Agents don't watch games, they wheel and deal " wonder what John McGraw would have thought of all this'.'" Oldtimcr ut the ba.scba strike meelintl. We take you now to Heaven where John "Muggsy" McGraw is quartered in the Baseball wing. We know it's Heaven because Muggsy is kicking an umpire while simultaneously yanking a pitcher. A sports-writer sports-writer approaches. Reporter "Mr. McGraw, a oasenan man on Earth wants to know what you think of the baseball situation down there?" McGraw "What situation?" Reporter "Well, the players are going to go out on strike unless they strike down provisions for compensation in cases where a team loses a free agent . ' ' McGraw "What's a 'free agent ' .'" Reporter "Well, a guy can deal for himself him-self on the open market." McGraw "Baseball's got a reserve clause. They can't do that." Reporter "The reserve clause was struck down years ago. Ballplayers sell themselves now. Owners can't do it anymore." McGraw "My God, don't let Connie Mack get wind of this! Every day, God lets him sell a new infield and put the money in a Philadelphia bank. What do these plavers get?" Reporter "Big money." McGraw "Ah, I though so! I told em when they gave that big monkey, Babe Ruth, all that money, it would ruin the game. Got more than the President of the United States, you will recall. $80,000. I knew it was only a question of time before other players would be getting that. They do now. aye'.'" Reporter "Well, Dave Winfield got $13 million. With performance bonuses, it can go to $17 million." McGraw "I'm going to have to speak to St. Peter about the acoustics in this place. I thought you said $17 million. Can you give me that again?" Reporter "I did say $17 million. Of course, it's for 10 years." McGraw (Whistling) "This guy Winfield must really be something. What'd he do-break do-break Babe Ruth's record? Break Rogers Horsnbv's average of .424? Get more hits than Cobb?" Reporter "No, he only got 20 homers last year. Ruth would have beat him by 40. He only batted .276. He's got a good agent " McGraw "What's an agent?" Reporter "That's a guy in a fur coat who negotiates for you and keeps l(i percent Sometimes he represents all the players on one team." McGraw "Oh, yeah. We had a fellow like that. Arnold Rothstein. Represented installing in-stalling players of the Chicago White Sox in the 1919 World Series. They got indicted. These agents have their money tied up in-these in-these players, do they?" Reporter "Oh, no. They just walk in. make the demands, get nine or 10 owners bidding bid-ding against each other, then make the deal and pocket their cut. They have no responsibilities respon-sibilities to baseball. They don't even go to the games. Consider it tacky. I mean, who would want to leave Acapulco to go watch the Braves and Pirates?" McGraw "Of course, they deal only in start?" Reporter "Negative, Mac. They cut a deal for a catcher from Texas with a .249 average for a million dollars. Another catcher who had a .249 average and ")1 runs-batted in got $4 million lor four years A guy named Claudell Washington who never hit more than 13 home runs in his career and has a lifetime average of .279, got S3. 5 million for five years, incentive incen-tive clauses up to $22r).ooo-a-year and an interest-free loan of $3(i0,()(i(i on which payments don't start till I9H." .McGraw "Oh. well, interest ain't much 24 percent nowadays, isn't it?" Reporter "Try 19' percent. And that's only the prime rate." McGraw "Sounds to me as if the owners are the ones who need agents. Or do they make their money betting on games? That's it! They wouldn't pay those players all that money to win! They pay 'em to lose, like Arnold Ar-nold Rothsetin, right'.'" Reporter 'shaking Ins head i "L'h-uh. They want to win They're gambling they'll get their money back on cable pay TV someday.'' McGraw "Oh. lots of people watch baseball on TV" Reporter "Not exactly Except for World Series, baseball ranks just ahead of test patterns pat-terns " McGraw "Well, somebody's crazy. What if these millionaires can't make the team?" Reporter "Oh, they make the team, all right, it's in the contract. One guy got it in there thai he has to start 20 games a year." McGraw "Why, I wouldn't let my mother make me start Christy Mathewson 20 times a year if I didn't teel like it'" Reporter "One guy's got it in his contract he must be in the lineup against right-handed pitchers He hit .227 one year, .222 another." McGraw "I've heard enough. Tell the boys I'm gonna reincarnate and come back down into the game." Reporter "As manager''" McGraw "Are you crazy? As agent. I like in run my show, remember? The Little on Not the Little Stooge." 'c- 19(11 f, is Angeles Times Syndicate. |
