The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 15, Ed. 1, Friday, January 18, 1980 Page: 17 of 23
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B-2
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Decade of change
By DAVID WALLACE
Sports Editor
It's another new year not terribly unlike every
other. Most people are taking care of their
business and playing their games just like they
did before the end of the year without much
noticeable change.
But the start of this year
HL was a little different. It
mm marked the end of a 10-year
HptilH period that changed sports
SHI more than any previous
WgOF decade. The end of the '70s
Syr left experts wondering which
T turn the world of sports
would take in the future.
The '70s will be remembered in this corner of
the world as the decade Abilene Christian
University switched membership from the
NCAA to the NAIA to survive financially and
promptly won the first of two national football
championships. The Wildcats also captured a
national track crown. But it wasn't all a bed of
roses.
It was a period filled with memorable events
all over the world. The decade was the age of
Hank Stram's Offense of the '70s the Big Red
Machine in Cincinnati Louisville's Doctors of
Dunk the clubhouse soap operas of the Oakland
A's and New York Yankees the terrorist
Olympics in Munich the Fort Worth Strangers
the No-Name defense in Miami the Orange
Crush in Denver the Steel Curtain in Pittsburgh
and Doomsday II in Dallas.
Innumerable heroes ended their careers
during the decade. Possibly the hero most
idolized Muhammed Ali won the heavyweight
championship for the second and third times
and finally called it quits.
So did the new all-time home run king Hank
Aaron as well as Willie Mays Brooks Robinson
Lou Brock O.J. Simpson Fran Tarkenton Bob
Lilly Joe Namath Wilt Chamberlain Jerry
West John Havlicek Adolf Rupp John Wooden
Hank Iba Woody Hays Darrell Royal Frank
Broyles Charlie McClendon Walter Alston and
Leo Durocher among countless others who left
the scene after highly successful careers.
The public became increasingly bored with
athletes who waged their battles in the courts
instead of on the field. The primary motivation
for professional athletes became the ac-
cumulation of almost incomprehensible wealth
replacing a competitive desire to win.
Players and officials went on strike in baseball
and football. Constant contract disputes kept
fans from seeing some of sports' most brilliant
stars for long periods of time. And before the
merger of the National and American Basketball
Associations the bidding war for talent between
the leagues nearly destroyed that sport.
But the decade's bleakest hour in sports
stemmed from politics not money. The seige of
the Isreali Olympic team by terrorists' in 1972
.ensured that the Olympic Games will be a stage
for political bickering for years to come.
With that as a background what do the '80s
look like? I can only tell you what I think.
Locally ACU football should continue to be the
school's largest drawing card but that doesn't
necessarily mean national championships lie
ahead. From top to bottom the Lone Star
Conference is improving every year.
As long as Coach Don Hood is around to work
his magic the track program will be strong also.
I will even go out on a limb to say the Wildcats
will win another title one of the two remaining
(continued on page B-8)
Lonesome sinks SHSU again
By DAVID WALLACE
Sports Editor
The smallest man on the court
Monday night 5-11 Kevin
Lonesome dashed any hopes Sam
Houston State had of upsetting
the ACU Wildcats in Moody
Coliseum by sinking a 22-foot
jumper with three seconds left.
The field goal gave ACU a 41-39
win preserving the Wildcats'
unblemished conference record
and upping their verall mark to
13-1.
It was the secoi I year in a row
a last-second shot by the guard
from Ardmore Pa. has beaten
the Bearkats. Lonesome drove
the length of the court to score the
winning basket at the buzzer last
season after SHSU had led the
entire game.
"He's got ice in his veins"
Coach Willard Tate said of
Lonesome who moved into the
starting lineup two weeks ago.
"We asked Randall (Moore) or
Lonesome to take it (the final
shot) because we had a lot of
confidence in their shooting."
The hot-handed backcourt
tandem combined for 12-19 from
the floor in the game.
The Wildcats had to fight back
to tie the game on a field goal by
Lonesome with 3:30 left after the
Bearkats grabbed the lead early
in the second half. An allcy-oop
dunk shot by forward Rodney
Fedell tied it for the final time at
39-39. setting up Lonesome's
winning bucket.
Tate was displeased that ACU
didn't increase its four-point
halftime lead. "We just didn't
offense well there at the start of
the second half." he said. SHSU
outscored the Wildcats 12-2 in the
first eight minutes of the half to
open up a six-point lead.
With the score tied 6-6 SHSU
went to a delay game to bring the
Wildcats out of their zone
defense. The tactic forced ACU to
a man-to-man defense for the
first lime this season. Tate said
he expects to see other teams try
it on the Cats as the season goes
along. "
"We practice the man-to-man
defense every day but we didn't
want to use it unless we had to"
Tate said. "It was just a case of
their trying to force us to do
something we're not used to. I
expect to see other teams use it
when they come here to play."
SHSU was not the first team to
combat Tale's zone with a slow-
down. The Stephen F. Austin
Lumberjacks were unsuccessful
in controlling the tempo of the
game in (heir 58-46 loss to the
Wildcats Saturday night. It was
the conference opener for both
teams.
The Wildcats shot a school
record 71.1 percent from the
floor while containing SFA's
high-scoring guard Carl Godine
(continued on pagcB-8)
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 15, Ed. 1, Friday, January 18, 1980, newspaper, January 18, 1980; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91983/m1/17/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.