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Show 1 TuEScUy, DccEMbER 8, 1987 SPORTS JC transfers load Wobar, Utah it By Laury Livsey Chronicle sports editor After a three-gam- e homestand to begin the season, Utah is now getting a feeling for what life on the road is like. Utah will play its second road game of the season tonight when it tangles with te foe Weber State in the Dee Events Center at in-sta- 7:35. It hasn't exactly been the most grueling road stretch the U. will face this season. Bus rides to Logan and Ogden don't exactly take it out of you like bus rides from Denver to Laramie, Wyo., and Fort Collins, Colo., do. Still, this game is an important one. In the te battles so far this season, is BYU with a win over Utah State. Utah and the Aggies are and Weber State has local schools. of the to other play any yet That all changes tonight. Utah is still stinging from its 76-7- 0 double-overtiloss to Utah State last Saturday in Logan, and will be trying to get back on the winning track tonight against . the Wildcats. Weber State Coach Larry Farmer saw his team get its first victory of the season last te weekend against Fullerton. Now he's looking for two wins in a row. The, Wildcats got an early start to their season by playing in the Big Apple NIT, but By Darren Hawkins Chronicle assistant news editor The 1986 injury list for intramural football at the University of Utah reads like an exercise in anatomy. IM football enthusiasts recorded injuries to the head, nose, knee, hamstring, mouth, jaw, ankle and collarbone. Russell VanStratt, coordinator of U. intramural two years ago and was sports, took over the department 35 reported appalled at the high number of mishaps injuries in 265 games. , So he set about to change it. : This year the list dropped 80 percent to seven injuries. The number of fights during games also dropped dramatically. "Last year we averaged about two altercations a week. dukes. This year That includes minor shoves to all-osaid. VanStratt all there were only three year," So how did he reduce the number of injuries and fights? Simple. He changed the rules of flag football. To become more in step with nationally-accepte- d rules, VanStratt adopted a regulation prohibiting contact -0 1- -1 ut me blocking. The new way to block is known as "screen blocking." VanStratt compares it to a screen in basketball, but in Cal-Sta- football the blocker may move. Players who initiate contact are penalized. "Initially there was a bit of grumbling about the new guys would say, rule," VanStratt said. "The hard-nose- d a few But after 'This isn't football.', weeks, everyone got into the system." He said he felt compelled to do something about the injury rate because his goal is to get everyone involved in exited early from that tournament when they lost to WAC member New Mexico, 88-7- 2. This is Farmer's third year at the Ogden campus. He's compiled a 26-3- 4 mark. One of the early bright spots of this year's Utah team has been the pressure man-tomdefense Coach Lynn Archibald has had his team play. The U. defense will have its hands full trying to stop junior Rico Washington, a transfer from Gloucester Junior College in a sportsmanlike game. "For most, it's not fun if you're concerned someone will knock your block off," he said. "All injuries are a concern, but if I can reduce the major injuries, then the minor injuries are kind of part of an " New Jersey. Jn Jiis first two games wearing Wildcat purple, Washington is averaging 21 points per game and 9.5 rebounds. Another JC transfer who should cause some problems is Watkins Singletary. While Washington will be a concern for Archibald, Singletary will give Farmer headaches. He has averaged 18 points a game in - Utah's first four games while bringing down 11.5 rebounds per contest. Singletary, like Washington, leads his team in both those categories. 'One player who will be hoping to bounce back is Mitch Smith. During Utah's loss to Utah State, he only had four points andfour rebounds because of foul trouble. changes reduce injuries in-sta- 1- IM rule the game." VanStratt even bought a strategy video cassette to help players learn strategies for the new rules. At first, players seemed unsure with the new rules and scoring was off. But VanStratt said after they became used to it, the and more wide-ope- n. game became faster-pace- d Another rule change that helps reduce injuries is the elimination of kick-off- s. This rule makes it so two lines of each other a high-ris- k toward aren't players running for injuries. play VanStratt hopes the rule changes along with fewer injuries will encourage more people to play intramural .',V flag football. And while football is the sport reporting the most injuries, basketball and soccer aren't far behind. Utah has come a long way since playing Belgium in its opening game, The U. sports a 1 mark led by the play of Watkins Singletary who has had his share of air time already this season. 3-- VanStratt said those sports, however, are already and he can see no way to change the rules to non-conta- ct reduce injury risk. Laury Livsey College football was no boredom cure If you think this year in college football was exciting, you probably think it's an event when your Chia Pet pops its first sprout. Actually, on the excitement scale, this college football year's season ranks regular right up there with an Earl Scheib TV commercial or a "Can You Draw Tippy the Turtle" contest on the inside of a matchbook. This year, there was no Joe Kapp to unzip himself in front of the press, and since Brian Bosworth had fled to the NFL, nobody needed to zip his lip. And Gerry Faust? He's doing quite nicely with the Akron Zips. just-comple- ted Zippity-Do-Da- h. As always, there was this year's version of the Heisman hype. From out of the pack came Notre Dame's Tim Brown, a receiverpunt returnermagazine cover boy to capture the Heisman Trophy. He caught 40 passes for 756 yards, was only fourth in the nation in yards and had a splendid game against Miami, Fla., on national all-purp- ose TV dropping only three passes as the Irish were shutout. But boy could he give a good interview. And photogenic? Wow! Anybody for John Cappelletti? '.' Speaking of the Heisman, USC is finally making it back to the Rose Bowl and no, the Trojans don't have an running back cut from the same mold as Marcus Allen, Rickey Bell and O. J. Simpson. Steve Webster? In fact, this year's most dominating running back, Pitt's Craig Heyward, was bigger than most Division-- I All-Ameri- linebackers. Due to an overdose of junk food. Maybe McDonald's could name a hamburger after him. Yeah, could I have an Ironhead, some large fries and a chocolate shake? In previous years, years more controversial than this one, not everybody was getting big on Big Macs, though. But this year, even Rexall was out of the spotlight. Nobody got busted for steroids, nobody was giving complimentary tickets to girlfriends (Sorry Sheila, coach said these tickets have to go to immediate family), and Gordie Lockbaum, the guy who probably should've won the Heisman, played both offense and defense for Division Holy Cross. cow. Holy The nation's top defensive player in 1987, Air Force's Chad Hennings, won't even see the NFL. He'll be somewhere in Bangladesh or Tibet flying jets. But then, he's no Napoleon (Can I play on weekends, Sarge?) McCallum, either. See you in five years, Chad. There was the playeragent thing at the beginning of the season which cost Ohio State the services of Cris Carter and cost Pittsburgh, Charles Gladman. But the 1987 college football season, for the most part, was as tame as MASH after McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers and Larry Linville left. Heck, the biggest rift this season was I-- between Ohio State and its former coach, Earle Bruce. After Bruce was unceremoniously fired by the university, he threatened to sue OSU. The problem was settled out of court and Bruce walked away with 471,000 clams. More boredom: Columbia didn't win, Miami and Oklahoma didn't lose and SMU didn't play. The Mustangs, serving their first year of the NCAA-imposDeath Penalty, had a homecoming game, although the game was soccer. SMU probably had , ed trouble deciding if it should invite Eric Dickerson or Pele as its guest of honor. There won't be a national championship game on Jan. 2, like there was last season, either. Oklahoma will face Miami in the Orange Bowl for the whole ball of wax on New Year's night. Maybe that game will awaken us all from this season of slumber. And if it doesn't, then we can go ahead and call the 1987 college football season the biggest sleeping pill of all. Quick, call Rexall. . |