What a Wonderful Weekend

What a big sports weekend. The Michigan-Iowa game, the first two games of the World Series and the Head of the Charles make this one fantastic Saturday and Sunday.

The matchup of the number one and two college football teams in the nation today promises to be a thriller. The showdown also marks a crucial turning point in Big 10 history.

A conference that had been dominated by Michigan and Ohio State forever has opened up and seen the rise of Pete Rozelle style parity and, in the same Rozellian vein, the Big 10 has discovered the forward pass.

The forward pass was the brainchild of Walter Camp, the great Yale football figure. In the era of the ten-man line and the flying wedge, Camp wanted to open up the game.

He was considering widening the field to allow for more lateral movement and an increased emphasis on speed. But newly-built Harvard Stadium was too narrow to accomodate Camp's wider field, so he decided to opt instead for the legalization of the forward pass.

Thus Harvard's greatest contribution to modern sport--not counting the invention of the catcher's mask--may well be that the size of its stadium pushed a Yalie to make a major football innovation.

Today, I'm going with Michigan to beat Iowa. I've always liked cars better than corn, anyway.

The 1-70 Series also debuts today. The eyes of the world turn to Missouri.

Show me.

Baseball on a pair of ping-pong courts. Jackrabbit base-stealers, high-flying infielders and plastic ground. And two old-school, real ballplayers.

Jack Clark--arguably the best clutch long-ball hitter in the game, a man whose injection of power lifted the Redbirds past the Mets this season--and Steve "Bye-Bye" Balboni--a fat, slow, balding 28-year-old who smacked 38 home runs this year despite playing half his games in one of the American League's largest parks.

The Fall Classic has but these two classics in it and I'm thinking that the whole shebang will come down to a duel between the only two real hitters the two track squads have.

And give me Jack Clark over Bye-Bye any day of the week. Clark's a veteran who has shown just how well he reacts to pressure stuations and playing in the limelight.

Cardinals in six.

Sunday, as the Royals and Redbirds gear up for game two, Cambridge will be hosting its biggest event of the year, the 21st Annual Head-of-the-Charles Regatta.

The Head is truly a sight to behold, with 100,000 spectators, more then 3000 competitors, 720 boats, 18 races and the biggest party you'll ever attend.

Already, a whole bunch of green-clad people have started showing up around campus. They must be waiting for the Head to start.

Along with the dawn-to-dusk shoreline revelry, there is some serious rowing. Andy Sudduth, America's premier single sculler, will race. So will Tiff Wood and several past U.S. Olympic boats.

Also, be sure to catch the duel between Harvard heavyweight Coach Harry Parker and Yale men's heavyweight Coach Tony Johnson in the master's singles.

The two are seeded next to each other, so they're likely to slog it out most of the way down the three-mile course. Parker may show some emotion.

Anything could happen.

Elsewhere, Yale takes on Columbia in New York. Don't expect Lion Coach Jim Garrett to blame this on any one of his players--the damage to Columbia pride will be too massive.

I'd bet Lawrence Wien, who shelled out millions for a new stadium at venerable Baker Field, is happy to see that the Lions are now 0-17-1 in their last 18.

Remember--only four more weeks and its time for The Game.