UNIVERSITY OF UTAH football coach Ron McBride returned Monday from the College Football Association's convention in Dallas, where the most talked-about CFA resolution was the vote to ban NFL scouts from film rooms and facilities of CFA member schools.
"Everybody I talked to was in favor of it," said McBride. "There was a unanimous feeling down there. What we're doing is sending out a message to the NFL that it appears to us they're not interested in graduation, or in most of the other things colleges think are important."They're coming in with their mini-camps before school is out, and they're drafting juniors. The problem is that as soon as a guy starts getting looked at by the pros it affects his study habits, it affects his thinking. He's not the same person."
McBride and the Utes were one of the schools victimized by the rash of juniors who left early for the NFL this spring instead of coming back for another year of eligibility. Ute quarterback Scott Mitchell, an expected All-American and Heisman Trophy candidate, declared for the draft and is now the property of the Miami Dolphins.
"Yes, this is a reaction to that," said McBride. "Before you know it you're going to have agents on campus talking to sophomores, telling them they should be going into the draft. Hey, there were 20 kids (around the country) who declared for the draft this spring that didn't get drafted. Now where do they go? They're pros. They can't come back to school."
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NOT YOUR ORDINARY LONGWOOD GRAD: Now that they're in the NBA Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers - a team with three starters from obscure colleges - are beginning to lose their anonymity.
At a pre-Finals press conference, point guard Terry Porter, who went to Wisconsin Stevens-Point; center Kevin Duckworth, who went to Eastern Illinois; and forward Jerome Kersey, who attended Longwood (Va.) College, were asked to name what their respective schools are famous for. Their responses:
Porter: "Wildlife management."
Duckworth: "Football."
Kersey: "Women."
He wasn't kidding. Longwood used to be an all-women's college, and still has a 5-to-1 female-to-male ratio.
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THE CHEAP OLD DAYS: The U. S. Open, which starts next week at Medinah Country Club near Chicago, has posted its ticket prices. A day pass for practice rounds is $25, for official rounds is $35 a day, and a tournament pass for the entire week is $225.
The last time the Open was held at Medinah was in 1975. Then, the prices were $6, $11 and $65.
The only other time the Open was at Medinah was in 1949. Then, the prices were $1.50, $2.50 and $7.50.
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ADD CFA: Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Joe Kearney was also in Dallas, and saw the banning of the pros from a slightly different light.
"I didn't see it so much as a reaction to junior eligibles as it being the end result of some dialogue between the college coaches and the pros that never got resolved," he said. "There's a concern about the way the pros are coming in and evaluating kids. They're taking up a lot of time and not showing concern about it. The kids going early in the draft, legally, that's going to be awfully hard to fight."
YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND HIM: Steve Young, still doing understudy duty to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, has apparently accepted his fate. He was quoted last week in the Boston Globe as saying, "The 49ers have made it clear to me that I'm not going anywhere. All I can do is wait. One of the things you learn if you stick around the NFL long enough is that your life is not your own in a lot of ways."
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Sacramento Kings guard Danny Ainge, on Phoenix Suns guard Jeff Hornacek: "Jeff is the single most underrated player in the league today . . . he reminds me of myself."