News Scrapbook 1980

Destiny Of 1 BOs May Be Major Labor Confrontations In Sports In the arena, some were outstanding players and some weren't. But in the courtroom, all were superstars. "Somewhere, there is going to be a major, major labor con- frontation in sports," Rothenberg believes. Now all we have to do is find them.

They challenged the web of law and custom which bound a professional athlete in feudal servitude to his employer. They changed the face of sport. Curt Flood, Jim Smith, John Mackey, Oscar Robertson, Andy Messersmith, Dave McNally, Joe Kapp - those were popular names during a seminar entitled "Sports And The Law" con- ducted by the University of San Diego Law School last weekend. And, no, nostalgia was not the order of the day. In some circles, these gentleman may have been esteemed WAYNE LOCKWOOD for their jump shots and curveballs and ability to throw the quick out. In this circle, they were esteemed for their litigat10n. You and I might remember Curt Flood misplaying a long fly ball in the deciding game of the 1968 World Series. In the area of jurisprudence, however, Flood is spoken of in the same context as Dred Scott or Brown vs. The Board of Education . His suit against baseball, even though he lost the decision, cracked open the door to freedom for the wage slaves of sweat. They have been pounding on the thing ever since. "The 1960s were the golden age of sport for the owners," observes Alan Rothenberg, counsel for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Aztecs. "The 1970s were the era of the revolution. The 1980s ... who knows?" But most people, including Rothenberg, have jl pretty good idea. What the '80s may bring us is armageddon. If you're tired of reading about strikes and lockouts and boycotts on the sports page, be advised to take up residence in a cave during t~e next few years. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

"The NBA flirted with it last year, going half a season with- out a contract. It could come in baseball next spring. They just postponed the compensation question from last year. They haven't settled it." Or it could occur in 1982, when the present contract between labor and management in the National Football League ex- pires. "Football is headed for a whole new war in 1982," Rothen- berg says flatly. What form this war will take seems less certarn. "The Players Association will take an entirely new ap- proach." believes Brian Monaghan, western regional general counsel for the, FLPA. "Five minutes before the start of a nationally televised game, a strike will occur. That's the sort of pressure the NFLP A: can exert best" Hit 'em where it hurts most, in other words. Whether professional athletes can hope to gain their objec- tives with a more standard form of action is open to debate. Randy Jones thinks they can. "A strike is our one big tool," says the Padres' player representative. "We have to use it if it comes lo that." "Maybe the ultimate labor weapon, a strike, is not practical for sports," cautions John Morris, a professor at the Arizona State School of Law and a recognized authority in labor and antitrust law. "Athletes have such a short-lived playing career. They must play as much as they can when they can. Maybe you have to come up with some sort of alternative solution." Irv Kaze has one. "These problems can be solved if intelligent people sit down calmly and work them out," says the former executive of the Chargers, Clippers and National League base- ball.

While there may be some disagreement about methods, there is none when it comes to issues. There are two of primary concern these days in professional sport. free agency and cable television. Forget the rest. They are incidental. The manner in which a player may become a free agent, and the compensation which must be granted his former team, are at the heart of labor negotiations in every sport. In baseball, owners bargained away considerable leverage in this area and are now trying to get some of it back. Obviously, players have little intention of cooperating. "It would be silly of the players not to take that stand," says Rothenberg. "The owners are asking the players to help the owners protect themselves from themselves." In football, it was labor which surrendered gains made in court through the Smith and Mackey cases. "Their players union wasn't that strong and made concessions from the Smith ruling," Rothenberg notes. "Obviously, the players have been unhappy about that." Meanwhile, everyone agrees that cable television is the wave of the future in sports and entertainment. A very, very profita- ble wave. "Cable television will become the most dominant force in sports," Monaghan believes. ' 1 It will be the major income producer in all sports," Kaze agrees. "The potential is enormous." How this enormous potential will be divided between man- agement and labor is a matter of enormous interest to both sides. And practically no interest to anyone else. We can ignore it, and probably will, to a large extent in the days to come. But it is not going to go away.

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SAN DIEGO UNION NOV 1 8 COLLEGES/By A,1~ne Voisin

Pressures No Concern For Williams The football office, located n the back of the gym, isn't much to speak of. The desks a-e old, and the chairs have seen better days. It wouldn't lurt to put up a new set of curtains either. and Mike Kruthers, and tackle Pando Vleisides. On offense, the major loss will be quarterback Tim Call, who played very well during the final weeks of the season.

But Bill Williams, the Unive-sity of San Diego football coach who spends much of histime there, has little con- cern for such matters. Give h,m a football field, some healthy bodies, and he's in hea"n. "I've got the best coaching jib in America " Williams said. ''Where else can you go tlO and not ~orry about getting fired? "It's not that I'm not as compeitive as the next person, because I am. But the pressure comes from within in- stead of from the administrabn. And I think that's healthy" How has USD fared with this aproach? If success is analyzed in terlll5t:,f wins and losses, the Toreros, who ended the season lat weekend at the .500 mark (5-5), are only mildly so. ley lost a few games Williams thinks they should have ion; they also won two games he thinks they should have 1st. If, however, success is comprise of intangible factors sue~ as dedication, perseverence,intelligerlce, and the ability to acknowledge that thereis life after football u . . ' "The kids are out here because p1ying foo'tball is fun " said Williams. "They don't get schO!rships. But they g~t a good education, if they're willing ) work, and many of them go on to law or medical sc/io!s. They don 't have any illusions about playing in tH National Football League. "I tell them that, at age 40, it;s ot going to matter whether you played at USD or Ohio Site. You just better make sure you get an education." . Williams, nonetheless, spends conrlerable time plot- trng a course for the football progr,tJ and how to im- prove it. He's pleased with a 5-5 recorcbut not thrilled by 1t. An 0-3 early-season mark still bottrs him. But upset victories over Sonoma State (14-7) an St. Mary's (10-7) have soothed him somewhat. The coach called last Saturday's w, over St. Mary's ''the biggest victory ever here." Of curse he said the same thing two weeks earlier after thevin over Sonoma State. Now that the season's over, Williamwm concentrate on next year, his sixth as head coach. Heoses several top defensive players, inc~uding linebackers';uy Ricciardulli

"Realistically, though," admitted Williams, "we need help everywhere. It's up to us to have a good recruiting year. We'll try to bring rn about 45-50 new people - half from high schools and half from the junior colleges. "We want to avoid having an old team, so you have to get a balance between. the freshmen and the jaycee play- ers. Our major problem is finding enough freshmen who qualify here academically. It's tough." But as he said earlier, when you can go 0-10 and not worry about losing your job, it's not that tough. • • •

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Wednesday, November 19, 1980 Sentinel

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USO students will participate in world fast tomorrow Tomorrow, many students from the Uni- versity of San Diego will fast for a day. For those who elect to participate, their action will be part of a nationwide annual fast sponsored by the famine relief agency meals will be donated to Oxfam. way of doing this. In addition, contributing food money is a simple and direct way of week of prayer and religious services is Other activities during the week include a talent show. hake sale. white elephant sale and a prize of $100 worth of gasoline. One of the Participating students will obtain finahcial sponsorship for the fast at USD raised more than $2,600 for Oxfam's efforts. Among those who will benefit are "boat people" in South- east Asia, refugees in southern Africa, far-

The fast's official title is " Fast for a World Harvest." In 1979, more than 3,000 groups world· wide participated, donating over $600,000 to Oxfam. Would You Believe... Gorillas are generally good-natured. It's the male who cares for the family.

"We are organizing the fast at USD because we want to give people a chance to make a per- sonal committment to the hunger of the world," says Sr. Tim Malone of USD 's Campus Ministry, which sponsors the fast. "Fasting is a symbolic

being conducted by the Campus Ministry Nov. 13-21, culminating in the fast day, on which part- icipants will be askE'd to limit their food intake to coffee, tea, juice or broth. The University Food Service is partici- pating by setting up a broth line for students.

hours they rock. Oxfam America was established in 1970. It is an independent develop- ment ·and relief agency affiliated with the Inter- national Oxford Com- mittee for Famine Relief, founded in Eng- land in 1942. Last year's

sharing some of our resources with people in Latin America, Asia and Africa who are struggling to survive and become self- reliant. " USD has participated in the fast since 1974. A

week's highlights will be a Rock (as in Rocking Chair) Marathon, to be held in front of Serra Hall from 11:45 p.m. Wednesday through 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

known as Oxfam Amer- ica. Money which the students would ordinar- ily spend on the day's

mers in Peru and Upper Volta, craft workers in Tanzania, rural women in Bolivia and village community groups in Sri Lanka.