Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I I THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., l>ee. 3, 1970 ^5-A BILL CURRIE Mouth of the South Computer Coaching It is a common practice amon^ corporate managers to dilute the decision-making process as thoroughly as possible so that in the event of a major breakdown or failure, it is next to im possible to correctly place the blame. This prac tice has been rising at an astonishing rate since the advent of computers. Before the best bet was to hire a consultant to make your mistakes for you. Now it is even possible to protect the consultant because he uses a machine to make his. If Tom Landry is ousted as coach of the Dallas Cowboys this season, it will be in a*meas- ure at least, because he attempted to inject some of the idiocies of high-powered corporate man agement into his running of a professional foot ball team. He has had his players write lengthy analyses of not only their own work, but of that done by other members of the squad. All these widely varied opinions, biased and prejudiced as they may be by professional jealousy and per sonal likes and dislikes, were then reduced to whatever it takes and were fed into the computer. At that point, real insanity began to set in The computer dictated unbelievable changes in important positions such as flanker and quarter back. Since mathematical computations had been substituted for solid human judgment, the re sults were, charitably, disastrous. Then Coach Landry had to come around and begin to second guess his computer in order to win again; and in the whole process, the team was reduced to a mere shadow of itself, and much confidence was lost in Landry as a leader. Of course, conceit and vanity are integral parts of leadership, and when a leader is so lacking in self-esteem that he needs to make his decisions out of a comput er, he ceases to inspire his followers Zany contrivances in pursuit of victory are nothing new in the realm of sports, but abandon ing important decisions may be. Remember the Saint Louis Browns'’ A more miserable collec tion of rag-tae operators has seldom been seen under the canopy of heaven. Their management decided that if. truly, mind does exercise control over matter, it was simply a problem in psychol ogy. So a reputable hypnotist was engaged, and this gentleman spent a great deal of time work ing with the inept pitchers and hitters trying to plant a seed of certainty in their subconscious minds. Under the cultivation of game conditions, this seed was expected to flourish into a blossom ing tree of victory. There were mixed reports as to the effective ness of the experiment. The Browns still lost, but perhaps not as horrendously as they had pri or to their hypnotic inducement. Certainly they did no worse, and the hypnotist did not sit on the bench an attempt to make decisions about per sonnel during the game. If the Cowboys, or any other team, profes sional or amateur, really wants to get the most out of its personnel, no computer is needed, nor is it necessary or even wise to aak the players to analyze anyting. Leadership does not often seek advice. A real leader knows instinctively what to do and then he has the courage and grt to do it regardless of who is fired or whose tender feelings are smashed. Can you imagine Vince Lombardi seeking the concensus of his players before making a decision? No computer can predict human emotions. Only a leader can inspire a man’s emotions so the man can rise to undreamed heights of accom plishment. Only a leader can see potentiality in a man and then draw it out. Lombardi could see, and there are others, but they are rare. That’s why it’s futile to ask people to analyze them selves or each other. This is a job for leadership; and when lead ership seeks the consolation of committee rule or computer selection, the native hue of the resolu tion is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of yellow. Six Red Devils On All-Conference Six members of Clinton High School's football team won eight positions on the Midwestern 3-A Conference All-Star team. Lewis Henderson and Char les Norman were named to both the offensive and defensive all-conference teams. Hender son was named as offensive center and defensive guard while Norman was named as tackle on both offense and de fense. Robert Scott was selected as a guard on the defensive team and Billy Young was selected as a back on the defensive squad. Monty Crisp was select ed offensive guard and David Mangum was named as a back on the offensive team. Crisp is the only CHS senior on the all-conference team, Henderson, Young and Mangum are juniors while Scott and Norman are sophomores. Clinton High finished with a 9-i2 record this year, losing only to Woodruff and Palmetto. Palmetto won the Midwestern Conference championship and went on to win the state 3-A title, defeating Woodruff for the upper-state title. * * * ThomweU Team In USC Meet Thornwell will send re presentatives to the first annual University of South Carolina Cross Country Invitational meet in Columbia Friday. Members of the Thornwell cross country team are Ronnie Joe Allen, Sam Scarborough, Jody Still, Ronnie Yelton, Johnny Gordon. Hosemen Capture Carolinas Title McNeill's Run Gives PC Derby And Crown Prior to last week’s Thanks giving Day battle between Pres byterian College and Newberry in Clinton, Fred Herren, the Newberry coach, paid a com pliment to PC Quarterback AUen McNeill. Herren called McNeill “one of the finest third down quarterbacks in this area.” Translated into layman’s language, that means McNeill has a knack for coming up with a successful play at a crucial time. He’s dangerous when he’s backed into a corner. So how does PC beat the Indians 27-23? Naturally, on a third down play in which Mc Neill ran 55 yards for the winning touchdown with 5:52 remaining in the game. New berry, fired-up and playing a fine ball game, was leading 23- 20 after a stirring comeback in which they shook off a 20-0 first quarter deficit. PC had a lot of hardware riding on the game. Of course, there was the traditional Bronze Derby prize which goes to the winner of the Thanks giving game. Added to this was the Carolinas Conference crown which PC had never won outright before last Thursday. A PC less would have meant the Hosemen would have to share the crown with Lenoir Rhyne as they did in 1966 and 1968. CONFERENCE CHAMPS Thanks to McNeill’s stunning run, the Hosemen finished with the derby and the crown and, at 8-3, their finest record since 1959 when PC had a 9-2 mark and played in the Tangerine Bowl. It also marked PC’s sixth straight win, their longest win streak since that 1959 team reeled off seven straight wins in one season and nine over a two-year span. The Blue Hose, although nursing some bruises and key injuries after a rugged game in the mud at Mars Hill the pre vious Saturday, scored two first quarter touchdowns before Newberry had been able to run a complete series of downs. Tony Passarello recovered a punt at the Indian three after the ball bounced against the Newberry receiver. Tam Milton scored the first of his two touchdowns with 11:55 re maining in the first quarter. The extra point failed and it was 6-0. After the ensuing kickoff, Newberry ran one play and then Rick Medlin inter cepted a Newberry pass and ran 60 yards for another PC touch down. PC attempted a two-point conversion which failed and it was 12-0 with 8:40 left in the first quarter. For its third first quarter touchdown, the Blue Hose went 80 yards in eight plays, capped by Milton’s two-yard burst McNeill passed to LynnDreger for the two-point conversion and PC had a 20-0 margin with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter. Newberry cornerback Butch Jernigan intercepted a Mc Neill pass at PC’s 25 to put the Indians in scoring position in the second quarter. Seven plays later, tailback Donald Garrick dived over to out the margin to 20-6 as Passarello had blocked a conversion kick this season. A 54-yard pass from Quarterback Tommy William son, a lefthanded freshman, to end Marty Pearson put the ball at PC’s seven late in the first half. Garrick again hurdled into the end zone from the one and the halftime score was 20-12. Newberry was back in the ball game. In the second half, PC got only two first downs and New berry chewed up large chunks of real estate, primarily with Williamson’s passes and Gar rick’s runs. With 2:39 remaining in the third quarter, Williamson sneaked over from the one to cap a 13-play, 66-yard drive. In tne drive he hit Howdy Hayes with rifle passes for three critical first downs. William son faked a pass to Hayes for the two-point conversion and ran in to tie the score at 20-20. A 40-yardburst up the middle by Garrick put Newberry at PC’s five in the fourth quarter but the Blue Hose defenders tightened up. Lmebacker Bobby Norris, a junior, made three successive stops for PC. Wil liamson kicked a 20-yard field goal that sent Newberry ahead 23-20 with 11:40 remaining in the game. After the teams exchanged punts and with time becoming a factor, McNeill dropped back on third down and three to go at his own 45, saw his receivers covered and started to run up the middle. McNeill cut to his left toward the visitor’s side lines at about the Newberry 40 and Dreger threw a block which took out two Newberry de fenders at the 20. From that point on it was a footrace, between McNeill and one New berry defender who trailed by about five yards. McNeill went into the end zone standing and Jerry Chandler added the extra point which put PC out of field goal range at 27-23. Still the Blue Hose had to fight down another Newberry threat but took over at its own 26 as a fourth and 10 passfrom Williamson to Hayes fell one yard shy of a first down. The win assured PC of pos session of the Bronze Derby for the fifth consecutive year. It also marked Coach Cally Gault’s seventh win over New berry in eight years. The 8-3 record brings Gault’s PC coaching record to 44-37-2. YMCA Sponsors 'Auto’ Race Boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14! How would you like to compete in a real live car race. Well, here is your big chance. The Clinton YMCA will have a Johnny Lightning Lemans Race,Satur day, December 19 at 9:00 a.m. Everyone must have his or her own car. To enter, one must be a member of the YMCA. There will be an entry fee of 50C per person. The winner will receive a trophy. The race track will be open at the YMCA every afternoon at 3:30 until 6:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday it will be open from 3:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. for those who wish to practice. THE THIN DIFFERENCE — PC’s 155-pound senior quarterback, Allen McNeill (No. 1), provided PC’s win ning margin against Newberry as he raced 55 yards late in the game. Mc Neill is shown above in another scrambling run in the first quarter. — (Yarborough Photo) BRONZE DERBY — Presbyterian College Head Coach Cally C.ault pos es with the Bronze Derby and two long-time supporters of the PC Blue Hose, Thomas Rice, left, and Willie Byrd, right. Rice and Byrd are em ployees of PC and ardent backers of the Blue Hose. PC retained posses sion of the Bronze Derby last week with its win over Newberry in the traditional Thanksgiving Day battle. — (Yarborough Photoj PC Cagers Win Tip-Off First Time In Finals vMI ALL-TOURNAMENT — Steve Crowe, left, and Danny Yarborough of PC were named to the All- Tournament Team selected Saturday night at the Tip-Off Tournament in Spartanburg. Crowe was a unanimous selection and was named the Most Valuable Player in the tournament after he scor ed 18 points, including the winning basket, in PC’s 7CL68 overtime win against Erskine in the opener Friday and 35 points Saturday as PC won the championship game 86-69 over Wofford. Yar borough scored 11 points the first night and 20 against Wofford. Crowe is a sophemore from Easley and Yarborough is a junior from Spar tanburg. CLINTON RED RAIDERS — Shown above are members of the Clinton Red Raiders football team, coached by Jimmy Braswell. The Raiders are an independent tackle football team com posed mostly of sixth grade boys up to 12 years of age. The Raiders played the Laurens YMCA All-Stars twice, losing 8-6 and winning 28-14. Shown above axe cheerleaders Lydie Pitts, Eliza beth Anne Pitts and Nancy Faye Grube. Players, kneeling, left to right: Andy Stallworth, Berry Strock, Jeff Howe, Marty Harris, Neal Kugler, and Jerry Greene; standing, left to right: Bobby Fulmer, Sammy Smith, Ben Pitts, Jimmy Revis, John Edwards, and Eddie Coile. Absent when the picture was made were Tommy Oakley, Chuck Marler, Walter Cromer, Charlie Davis and Danny Orr.— (Photo by Yarborough) Last week was a week of championship firsts for Pres byterian College Athletics. On Thursday, the PC football team wrapped up its first outright Carolinas Conference cham pionship with a win over New berry. Two days later, the PC basketball team won its first Tip Off Tournament champion ship in Spartanburg. The PC basketball team nipped Erskine on Friday night and then defeated Wofford on Saturday night to win the title the first time they made it to the championship finals. ‘We’ve waited a long time for this," said Coach Herb Robinson, “We beat two good basketball teams and winning the championship was signifi cant to us. It’s an indication that we’re ready to compete in basketball now. Concerning the Tip Off Tournament last weekend, Coach Robinson also said, “We were a little nervous in the opener Friday night but in the overtime we played almost per fect basketball. On Saturday night, we showed a lot of poise and we opened it up when we had the chance.” PC Sophomore Steve Crowe was a unanimous selection for the MostValuable Player award and Coach Robinson said, “There was no doubt about Steve being the most qualified for the award. He won the game for us Friday night and play ed a phenominal game onSatur- day." Erskine took the Blue Hose into overtime before PC pulled it out 70-68 with Steve Crowe’s basket in the final three seconds. In the championship game Saturday night, PC and Wofford scrapped on even terms until the Blue Hose got a little breathing room at 73-65 with 4:58 remaining in the game. PC won it 86-69. On Saturday night, Crowe set the game’s pace as he hit shots from all over the court, grabbed rebounds from taller opponents and played a hustl ing defense which resulted in several steals. He hit 16 of 25 tries from the field, three of seven free throws, pulled in 16 rebounds and had a total of 35 points. Erskine won the consolation prize, defeating Newberry 78-77 in another overtime game. 7 Teams In YMCA Cage Loop Seven teams will be playing in the Clinton YMCA Men’s Basketball League this season. This is an increase of three teams over last season. The teams met at Hartness Gym on the Thornwell campus Monday night for scrimmage games. The league will have another practice session to night and will open the season on Monday, Dec. 7. Games will be played at the Hartness Gym each Monday and Thursday nights, starting at 7 o’clock. Teams entered this season are Kiwanis Club, managed by Bill Hill; Bailey’s Bombers, managed by Billy Glenn; The Unknowns, managed by Bill Rhodes; Spartanburg Junior College local students, man aged by Tim Powers; Lydia Mill Community, managed by Francis Cooper; Town and Country Center, managed by- Lynn Caricofe; and Little River-Dominick Church, man aged by Jimmy Bankhead. Thomwell's Roach Named To Loop Team Thornwell running back Kanada Roach has been named to the A11-1A Conference foot ball team. Roach led Thorn well with 970 yards rushing in eight games and scored 80 points. Roach and 13 others won football letters at Thornwell during the past season. Other letter winners were linemen Joe Adams. Ronnie Joe Allen, Ray Bee, Pete Belcher, Bill Cheatham, Mike Eubanks, David McCarter, Bill Odom, Jody Still, Berry Wal ton; and backs Sam Scar borough, Don Lundkovsky and Frank Bruyer. There were four seniors on the Thornwell team during tbo past season: Adams, Bruyer, Belcher and Scarborough. * * * Lander Surprises Presbyterian College Basketball Coach Herb Ro binson shouldn’t have much problem getting his team'up’ for the Lander Invitational Tournament this weekend. His Blue Hose undoubtedly would like to have another crack at the host Lander team. Lander rallied from a 15- point deficit to defeat PC 89- 87 in overtime Monday night at PC, handing the Blue Hose their first loss of the season. PC will play Newberry at 7 p.m. Friday night in the Lander tournament and Lander will go against the University of North Carolina at Wilming ton in the second game. The winners will meet on Saturday- night. PC held a 44-39 halftime lead in Monday night’s game and raised the margin to 60- 45 with 15:27 remaining in the game. However, Lander snipped away at the margin until it was down to only four points, 81-77, with 1:03 re maining in the game. Lander’s John Davis hit jump two jump shots to tie the game at 81-81 by the final buzzer. In the overtime, the team traded baskets before Ray Tackett gave Lander the lead at 87-85. Lander’s David Blovins was fouled and hit both ends of a one-and-one to ice the game for Lander. Moore Wins Golf Tourney Donnie Moore won the cham pionship flight iii the Rolling S Golf Club’s- Thanksgiving Trophy Special last week. James Lindsey was runner- up. W. T. Findley won the first flight with Charles Coleman as runner-up; Jerry Craven was the second flight winner with Archie Simmons as runner up; and Ralph Burns was third flight winner with Jerry Stod dard as runner up. A “DogFight" Tournament and Blind Bogoy are scheduled Dec. 5 and 6, starting at 11:30 a.m. Entries may be made by calling 677-34 57 in Waterloo.