10
Coolmiimc Journal, Wednesday, May 6,1970
BILL CURRIEHBHR
KB Mouth I
■KI of the South |
jm wm ■
Curry Reflects On Year
Whew!
It is summertime again. Of course, I know that
officially it is still spring, but in the lexicon of my year it
is summer. By definition summer is a season when
there is no basketball, no football and no conferences
about either. It is about a time when I can lie down in my
own bed and sleep the sleep of the innocent.
Of course the fact that there are no games to cover
means that one has a great deal of time to reflect on the
past year. (A year to me runs from September to
September.)
Probably the greatest disappointment in the area
was the University of South Carolina's failure to
capture the Atlantic Coast Basketball title. If you are a
Gamecock rooter you will argue with a good deal of
vehemence that the Chickens were robbed of their
rightful perch atop the league. But that isn't really what
happened. They just had one lapse when the big chips
were on the table.
Cougars Were Surprise
To me the most resounding surprise of the year was
the Carolina Cougars. When somebody told me that Jim
Gardner had bought the Houston Mavericks and was
about to move the team to North Carolina I was certain
beyond any reasonable doubt that he was at once bereft
of reason.
Moreover, I was certain that neither Jim nor all his
associates could cook enough hamburgers to balance
the loss. How wrong I was about that is history. The
Cougars were not only an emotional success in the
hearts of the fans; they were a box office sensation, and
apparently Mr. Gardner & Company possesses another
vein of pure gold.
The misjudgment of the year was the professional
appraisal of UNC's Charlie Scott. Of course, Pete
Maravich is a show boat and will, for a time, drag in
thunderous herds through the turnstiles. But Scott is the
best basketball player ever to come down the road.
His real strength lies in his total ability. There is no
weakness in his game. Maravich, Mount, oh you name
the big scorers. Most of them can't snell defense, let
along play it, but Scott can.
One day when the dust has settled and the hysteria
of many points is forgotten, Charlie will be helping his
team to win. I believe that is the purpose of playing, and
while Charlie is a take charge player, he knows how to
play on a team.
Bunting Was Disappointing
Individually I have been disappointed that Bill
Bunting did not do better as a professional player. With
a heavy money contract, the former UNC star was
expected to cut a wide swath in the ABA. He did not. He
may never. But I have hopes.
Remembering that Bunting was not a tiger in
college until he got his confidence as a senior, I was not
surprised when he failed to show up his real ability in
his first season. If he works hard enough, and puts in
enough extra hours before and after practice, and never
misses a day working in the summer, he can yet be a
force in the ABA.
Gene Littles who never had a scholarship offer
anywhere but at High Point College, roared into the
Cougar starting lineup and stayed there. At six feet he
gave away both height and weight to virtually everyone
he faced.
Yet he proved his ability and also proved that there
are many superb ball players in the Carolinas Confer
ence. What a pity the league is run by such a fuddy
duddy bunch of old moss backs that most of the time
nobody ever hears about the excellence of the athletes
and teams. But with Littles doing the job he did, not
even High Point College's lack of public relations could
keep this guy a secret.
*V. ■~T f
RECORD MAKER James "Jingles"
Ijames of Davie County set four new
North Piedmont Conference track
records at the NPC meet last Friday at
Record-Setter
Ijames To Lead Davie
Into N-S Track Event
James Ijames, who set four
new records in the North Pied
mont Conference track meet
last week will lead Davie Coun
ty's trackmen into the North-
South Piedmont Conference
meet at North Rowan on Fri
day.
The Rebel star registered four
victories in record-times at the
NPC meet, and teammates
Alan Barger and Jerry Goodlett
also scored wins.
Barger set a new shot put
record, and Goodlett won the
triple jump, but the threesome
was not enough to overcome the
balance of East Rowan.
In the North Piedmont meet
at North Rowan, East Rowan
led the way with 152% points.
Davie County was second with
100. Other scoring included,
North Rowan, 97; West Rowan,
63; North Stanly, 25%; Moores
ville, 19; South Iredell, 18%;
North Davidson, 16% and Cen
tral Davidson, 3. The scores for
North Rowan and South Iredell
were corrected after a recheck
of the team totals.
East built up a comfortable
margin with a first and second
in the 880, the 14th event on the
agenda. East outscored Davie
County by to 14 in the final
three events to increase its lead
from 42 points to 52Vi.
Only three events appear to
be in the "safe" category as far
as possible records are con
cerned—the pole vault, broad
jump and mile run.
If athletes match their per
formances in last Friday's two
conference meets, nine records
will fall and another would be
tied. Based on regular-season
performances, three more
records are in danger.
Nine records were broken in
the NPC meet, while seven
marks were topped and another
was tied in theSPC meet.
In the North Piedmont, Davie
Country's James Ijames broke
records in four events the 100-
North Rowan. The 6-5 Rebel star will lead
Davie into the North-South Piedmont
meet this week.
220 high hurdles and low hur
dles. East's Eddie Price broke
the 880 mark, Davie's Alan
Barger topped the shot put
mark, and North Rowan's Bud
dy Lowery set a new standard in
the discus.
East's 440 and 880 relay teams
broke records, as did West's
mile relay unit.
In the South Piedmont, Boy
den s Roger Jackson snapped
records in the high and low
hurdles. Lexington's Jerry Mill
er topped the 880 mark and
Boyden's Robert Pulliam broke
the shot put mark. Boyden
broke the 880 and mile relay
marks, while Kannapolis
topped the 440 relay record.
Kannapolis's Hugh Cline also
tied the high jump record with a
6-2 leap. His height was origi
nally recorded at 6-1%, but a
remeasurement late Friday af
ternoon proved it to be 6-2.
Kannapolis and Davie County
were defending champions, and
the victories by Boyden and
East Rowan were the first ever
in a Piedmont championshp
meet by the two Rowan County
schools.
The top six finishers in each
conference meet qualify for the
bi-conference event, but only
three relay teams will advance.
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Ties for third place in the NPC
relays will add an extra team in
those events.
The final track meet of the
season is set for Saturday, May
16, at North Rowan. It will be
the Western North Carolina
High School Activities Associ
ation championship meet.
Davie County is the defending
champion in both the bi-confer
ence and association meets.