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6 The Daily Tar Heel Thursday. September 8. 1977 Menapace joins Caldwell at safety Secondary looking to silence its critics By LEE PACE Assistant Sports Editor The Tar Heel defensive secondary has been the subject of countless cruel comments the last few years. If critics couldn't find one thing wrong with the backfield, they'd find another. Allowing 224 yards passing in one game and 385 in another, admittedly, is apt to solicit witty slogans from fans such as "Fly the Friendly Skies of Carolina." But players and coaches have contended for one reason or another that the secondary has been the scapegoat, rather than the goat, in many of the Tar Heels' defensive lapses. And with terrors like Ronny Johnson and Alan Caldwell roaming the field the last two years, it's hard to imagine the secondary being that helpless. Johnson could hit unwary receivers hard enough to make them eat tongue and tooth, while Caldwell was reputedly mean enough to spear his own grandmother. Caldwell returns for his senior year this fall and will move to strong safety when Carolina and Kentucky collide at l:30 p.m. Saturday in Lexington. Johnson, however, is gone. And although Bernie Menapace has seen varsity action only at quarterback, he'll start at weak safety. Both defenders hope that the end has come for the ceaseless attacks, both verbal and aerial on the Carolina secondary. "I feel pretty confident. I think we have the nucleus to have a good defense," Caldwell said recently. "But I'm not one to brag. You never know how things will turn out. It might look like we'll have a good defense, but it might turn out bad." And to watch him on the field, he's definitely full of electricity. He's a part of most tackles and is constantly jumping up and down and cheering his teammates. Whenever there's a hint a fight might break out, Caldwell's in the middle of the confrontation. But he's also the first to help an opponent off the turf and pat him on the rear. 'I'm not a cheap shot artist. I hit and hit hard, and I get a kick out of knocking the heck out of people. ' Strong safety Alan Caldwell. And although Caldwell admits he plays defense with no particular affection for his opponents, he discounts the rumors that he's a dirty player. "I'm not a cheap shot artist. 1 hit and hit hard, and 1 get a kick out of knocking the heck out of people. If a receiver comes in my area he should know that I'm there and that 1 always will be there," Caldwell said. Caldwell is labeled the "spark plug" of the UNC defense, not only because people call him by his initials, but also because he's been seen in the Tar Heel lockerroom with a towel adorned with a drawing of a spark plug. "Any player has to have that air about him to get the job done." the All-Atlantic Coast Conference preseason pick said. "If you play too cautious you get burned. Everything has to be like second nature. It has to be instinctive." For Menapace, however, playing defense isn't yet instinctive. He played defense before coming to Carolina, and was a safety for a couple weeks during preseason drills last year before injuries to Johnny Stratton and P. J. Gay warranted his move back to quarterback. But he's still never played a college snap on defense. CAROLINA ...UNION. irfmln)oni will be appearing in Memorial Hall Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $3.00 and are available now at the Union Desk. The North Carolina Symphony will perform a Pop Music Concert Sunday, September 18 Forest Theatre 5 p.m. FREE I Tickets are now available for the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band at the Union Desk. $1.50 All students interested in working on a Union Committee should sign up at the Union Desk. Deep Jonah continues its presentation of local talent! 8:00 The Union FREE Barry Gabel & Friends Tonight Cut this out, take it to the Union Desk, My name is Phone No. I want to teach or learn (circle one) about this subject FREE CLASSES (some courses require materials) Qualified teachers, only, Courses scheduled depend on your snowing interest. The Carolina Union Special Projects Committee Ticket Sales: 7:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Mon.-Fri. . . i ab;-Carolina "T ft MrM ,Mv r njy if II W i ..,11" f Union hours: 7:30 a.m.-ll p.m. Mon.-Thurs. 7:30 a.m.-Midnight Frt. 9:00 a.m. -Midnight Sat. 11:00 a.m.-l 1:00 p.m. Sun. "I like playing defense. I like being able to hit instead of being hit." he said. "You run around and see the play develop and then react. At quarterback you are the play developing. At free safety you see what happens and react." Strong salety Caldwell will line up opposite the offense's tight end. or "strong side." Free safety Menapace guards the "weak" side, away from the tight end and danker. "The first thing I do," Menapace explained, "is see what formation they're in and make the secondary call. From the field position, down, and yards to go. I'll know the percentages of the different things they're likely to do. "When the ball's snapped, I try to figure out if it's a run or a pass. If it looks like a pass, or if I have any doubt, then 1 retreat. If it looks like a run, then 1 come up and get in on the tackle." Caldwell noted that an important aspect of playing the defensive secondary involves intimidation. "If you can get a guy to think more about you than the ball, and if you can get his attention away from what he's supposed to be doing, you're doing your job." he said. "If you control his mind you control what he does." Conserve Water!! ' ' ; '::;:v;: 'A vtim al ' :'.'ISill!8Spi h - - ' " '-'.iiSif' t: vv. i hmmm . t I' ' ' f I t ' s $ t 1 '4 Defensive back Alan Caldwell Pro-Alumni game set for Saturday Robert McAdoo and Charlie Scott will head the White team while Mitch Kupchak and Bobby Jones will lead the Blues in North Carolina's first annual Pro-Alumni basketball game Saturday at S p.m. in Carmichael Auditorium. Tickets are $3 and may be purchased at the Carmichael ticket office. The game is sponsored by the Campus Chest, a charitable organization at UNC. Former Carolina players who have received paychecks from the National Basketball Association or the American Basketball Association will be participating in the game along with seniors from last year's team. Playing -coach of the White team will be Doug Moe. head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, with Pete Brennan as his assistant. Larry Brown, head coach of the Denver Nuggets, will be the Blue's playing-coach with Joe Quigg assisting him. Also playing on the White team will be Donald Washington, Darrell Elston, Dennis Wuycik, Bill Bunting, York Larese. Lee Dedmon, George Karl, Dick Grubar and Billy Cunningham. The Blue team will consist of Walter Davis, Steve Previs, Bill Chamberlain, Lee Shaffer, Woody Coley, Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Miller, John Kuester and Tommy LaGarde. McAdoo, Scott. Washington, Elston, Karl. Kupchak. Jones, Davis, Kuester and LaGarde all are still active in professional basketball. Two former players. Bob Lewis and Bruce Buckley, will not take part in the game. Lewis works at the John F. Kennedy Center for Culture and must attend an opening and Buckley already has left the U nited States for France, where he will play pro basketball. "We think we have divided the teams as evenly as possible," said UNC Head Coach Dean Smith. "I think the game is going to be very exciting, I know I am looking forward to seeing it." Plans call for the game to be an annual event played before the professional players report to their training camps. dTK " i""'""" J OmiF& I MJH CICI O) UL Why didn't yon! it you live near a dus route ana suu travel arouna town by car every day, you'd better have a good excuse. Frankly, we can't think of one, though we've heard them all. But since you probably take your excuses seriously, let's take a look at the popular ones. Convenience Okay, so your car leaves from your home instead of the corner. But what happens during the trip or when you arrive at your destination? You have to fight traffic, buy gas, search for parking, and then probably walk a good ways to where you're going. With the bus, you can take your eyes off the road. You don't have to worry about getting gas. Or accidents. Or parking. Or traffic. You can relax, do homework, snooze, start a romantic involvement. Try all that in your car and it can get you killed or arrested. A car can get to you. A bus just gets you there. Cost If you think riding a car is cheaper than riding a bus, look closely at the figures. According to transporta tion analysts, the cost of commuting by car is about 50tf for the average trip. When you have a bus pass, the cost is just 8! a trip. And you don't have to worry about buying a new bus every two years, either. Time Just because buses are big doesn't mean they're slow. On a Chapel Hill bus, downtown is at most 23 minutes away. And a typical ride is usually 10 minutes or less. In fact, if you have to park your car some distance from where you're going, the bus can be faster. v. iff. ... sULr-. - Jr. i Affile : Bad Expectations Some people have a notion that riding a bus is unpleasant. Surveys show that those people aren't the ones who ride the buses. Chapel Hill bus riders say they enjoy riding buses, that they can relax and think better, too. Whose word would you take? Don't pass up the pass. You really don't need excuses. What you need is a bus pass. One pass, good for a year of unlimited rides is just $40. You can get a pass at the Tax Office in the Municipal Building and at all First Citizens and CCB branch offices. Or if you work or go to school at UNC, contact the Traffic Office in the YMCA buOding. CHAPEL HILL COMMUNITY TRANSIT It's the way to go. lJ Li Vhx
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 8, 1977, edition 1
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