Authoritarian attitude must succumb

An inside look into the problems presently
encountered by the Grinnell physical education staff

, iiy liohcrt lilcyci-

Over the past decade men's athletics at Grinnell
have achieved little success and have managed to
cop only a handful of Midwest Conference chamr
pionships. Because of this fact, a label has been
pinned upon Grinnell athletics. the Grinnell Losing
Syndrome. which is commonly referred to as the
GLS by the campus community

The losing character of the Grinnell athletic
teams did not affect many of the Pioneer athletes of
the wild and liberal late " ie Those Grinnellians
cared not so much for a high winning percentage.
but instead competed in athletics solcly tor the sake
0| participating in pleasurable rccrcatioii

THE (iriniirll coaching stall of the limo unr
(lel‘StDUd the sludenLi' attitudes toward sports,
Many coaches traded their authoritarian
attitude toward coaching tor a more relaxed
coaching altitude, Coach John I’litsch. Director oi
intcrcollcgiatc Athletics at Grinnell. says that
"those “he didn't change had a hard lime "

According to Pfitsch. the students" altitudes
dictate what the coach can or cannot do The
students don‘t necessarily tell the coach What he
can or cannot (lo. but in order for the coach to be
succcssiul thcstudcnts must accept his work ethic
Plitscli says the only ways in \ihich a coach could
have the students of the late sixties accept his work
ethic was to either change his style oi coaching or
convince the kids tiiat they were wrong in their
liberal altitudes He chose to modify his Views to
some extent but he believes that his basic goals are
the same and only his coaching method has
changed

Radicaljsm disappears

SOCIOLOGISTS tell us that the radical character
oi the collcgc student oi the late sixties and early
seventies IS passing away and today more career»
oriented teenagers enter college campuses around
the nation, including Grinnell. One result oi this
phenomenon is that Grinnell College students show
more intcrcst in intercollegiate athletics

Coach Piitsch has his own theory about this
phenomenon. He believes that thc students' at»
titudes have been swmging back and forth like a
pendulum tor the past two decades One end oi the
pendulum would be represented by the students'
attitudes oi ‘61 and the other and would be

 

represented by the students attitudes of '69 At
present Plitsch believes Students attitudes are half
“Ely back to '51. but he doubts that students Will
ever again reach the extremes of either '61 or '59.

BECAL E the Grinnellialis show liiore interest in
intercollegiate athletics. the present coaching staii
has taken a more formal or disciplined attitude
toward their training oi players, One could conclude
that some coaches“ attitudes have reverted to the
authoritarian attitude which was prevalent in '61

None of these changes would be questioned ii the
new coaching attitude brought about \\’Innlng
rcsults. Piitsch admits that ”more people are
iiilling to lethim lthecoachl be an authority if he is
good~if hc gives good results." But iinioi-tuiiatcly
Grinnell's men's teams haven't been winning and
hence most Grinnell Students aren't willing to have
lhe coach act as an authority,

Coaches can’t be authoritarian

iviiic,\ askiiil about coaching the present day

Grinnell athletes. Pfitsch zidmlls that he is per5

plcxed ilc says the wholcsituation is perplexing
because there are some athletes who will accept
the authoritarian iigure and tlicrc are others who
dcmand ii rapport with tiicir coach, Ptitsch iigurcs
that coaching today‘s Pioneer athlete isn't as
difficult as It was in the late sixties. but he believes
that today's coaches cannot coach thc “easy it y.
the autho arian approach " iiistcad lie bclicvcs
that it is Still true that a Coach needs to have 2! good
rapport with his athlctcs

[lithe late sixties the men's athletic teams Could
claim that the enjoyment they received irom their
sport superseded the disappointment they received
from defeat. Many present day Grinnell athletes do
not receive enjoyment from their sport's recredtion
because of their coach's authoritarian attitude. To
make things worse. the authoritarian coaches also
fail to enable their athletes to experience victory.
One result from such a situation has included a
team petitioning for their coach‘s resignation.

WHEN athletics provide neither pleasurable
recreation nor victory. everyone knows that some
action must be taken, Because it appears that
Grinnell athletics will not achieve winning results
iii the near future. one must believe that only a
change in the coaching staff's attitude will bring
about zin immediate cure

Why can’t Johnny play rugby?

Ruggers crumble to tough Des Moines squad

by Peter St. Thomas away match

tthcy may never

Sunday the Grunts take on thcir

TheCirinneII Rugby Club learned
two things last weekend First,
they can play rugby well against a
team that plays football instead of
the true sport Second. that the
Gruan cannot stay in the game
with a imctuned rugby machine.

On Saturday. the Grinnell team
tlhe Grunisl entertained Central
and Upper Iowa in an adlib
tournament The ruggers started
oil with a heartbreaking 12-6 loss to
a iast Upper iowa squad Again thc
Grunts were plagued by mistakes
in thc iundamentals oi lhe gamc.
and a lack of a forceful offenswe
attack. in the second match
Grinnell fared better. notching the
iirst shut out in the team's history
Thc towngown pounders dcicated
Central in it hard fought hel|~raiscr
9»0. The Grunts exhibited an ex~
cellent dcicnsive display iorcing a
last. weight lifting Central backr
field to a dead halt

Alter partying the night away.
the ruggers traveled to their lirst

leavctownagaint Des hloines‘s A~
squad destroycd the Grunts in
every way possible as the 54-0
score iincly illustrates Grinnell
highlights includcd \i'armrup drills
and a quick exit irom the Des
Molnes pitch ttieldl.

AS Coach Hasly stated. "It was a
line learning cxpcricncc," This
comment has its proiound
qualitics. The ruggers did show
some pride and iought through to
the iinal whistle, They also
received a playbook lesson on how
rugby is supposed to be played. If
the i-uggers can keep their spirits
up. the Des Moines experience
may turn out to be a valuable onc.
Besides. we still have better board
SCOICS.

Tomorrow the Grinnell squad
laces a strong town Slate team.
ci-inncll has always donc wcll
against thc Cyclones but have
never tasted victory against lowa's
best. Could there be an upset?
Show up at 2 pm and rind oiit

Pub Club, Inc.

HAPPY HOUR

4300 f

MONDAY

6:30

- FRIDAY

arch rivals. Beaver Creek, If you
are interested in blood. Grinnell's
liiicup will includc two anti-tank
guns and the leit-wing oi Grinnell
General Hospital.

The Scarlet & Black. April 21. lgibépago T

])ln

his hicai-s IM soitball team to a ti iiiniiigt 2i

uppcrciit. home run swing that led
troiiiicing 0\‘(‘l' tangaii.
What.) by (‘llris liowi‘nl

Pioneer raquetmen
still seek first Victory

by iioiici-t Mcycr
weekend the Pioneer
\‘zil‘SIti‘ tennis team fell to both
Augu. anal and St. Ambrose by
scores oi ti-o. Thc Pionccrs ap.
peared to be lacing opponents oi
tar superior calibcr as they could
only squeak out one set tol the
nineteen playedl in each at the
team tournaments

Coach Art Peterson summarized
the Pioiiccis' dctcat by statingihat
"Grinnell won't play anybody who
IS toughcr in thc future" Un-
doubtedly Augustana. who is
ranked ninth in the nation for
Division Ill. and St. Ambrose. who
Coach Peterson claims is better
than Augustana. did provide thc
raquetmen With their toughest
competition for the snring.

The Pioneer's present record oi
0-7 does not Worry Coach Peterson.
lie intentionally provided Grinnell
with its early season stiff com
petition so that the Pioneers
playing ability would mature
before it laced the less talented
Midwest Conference competition,

Last year the Pioneers dropped
their first Six matches. Alter
linishing the six team competition
oi the Warthurg Tournament.
Grinnell improved its record to 477.
After that tournamentthe Pioneers
won four straight matches and lost
its finale against Carleton. hence
the Pioneers entered the con
ference championships with
a respectable 8-8 record.

Grinncll ventures oil to play in
the Wartbul'g Tournament which Is
held today and tomorrow. Coach
Peterson expects Grinnell to roll
over the Mldiicst Conference

Last

Golfers rest for busy future

Grinnell finished twelfth in the sixteen
team tournament held last weekend

It) DickGilbcrt

Last weekend. Grinnell's golf
team visited the glamorous towns
of Cedar Falls and Waverly to
compete in the Northern Iowa»
Wai‘tburg anltatlonal. The
touriiamciit. jointly sponsored by
the two schools. was played over
two days on different courses one
of the host schools. UNI. walked
away with the team title The
Pioneers finished twelfth out of
sixteen teams entered

Friday: round was played at
Pheasant Ridge in Cedar Falls.
The par 72 course seemed to get the
best of thc gollci-s. oavc Vilnr
dcrpool had i; nnell's Iowcsl
i-oimil, iii-iiig a 76 Mike Hopkins
was right behind at in Next came
l-‘i-cd Aicnougal and Dave Har-
mon, both sco iiig 83's. Thc
Pionccrs' itlllt‘r contestants Doug
i'lilt‘lik tlllil Rich l’t'nitler. \tt'rt.‘
both tili par and had disappointing

thc toiii‘nziniclil.

composed of ioiva schools cxcepl
ior Winona State from Minnesota.
moved to the Waverly Country
Club. Overall. the scores improved
with lltipkins loading the charge
with a 76.

Only the top iour scores irom
each school were used to deter
mine the team champion. Grinnell.
with vanderpool‘s lovi, Ilopkin‘s
157,1larninn's165.and hchougal's
I71. finished \iith a ($48 \i'cll behind
Ui\'l's 593 lpwa Slalc placed
.vconil \iith F, The medalists,
C; 3' Nelson linil (Tli' \‘ondcll
lrtim Ui\ iot HS anti i4ti.
i-espcctivcl tor the two days

iii-tines ay. a touriiaiiicnt in
lawn (‘ity \t canccllctl duc to
rain NnmiilChL Lire scheduled for
this iicekentl. but next \icek IS
tinckctl, 0n 'rliiirsdt v. ilic train
cops to Dos nihiiic tor thc three-
tlay Drake Helms Invitational
'l‘licii. aitcr thk ig a twirday
break. the Pioneers lclivc for thv
i‘ rlcton lli\'it1ltltmiilllibiil’tllllt’lil

entries tCoe and Cornell) and
hopes they will defeat two of the
three Iowa Conference entries
(Luther and Wartburgl. Peterson
expects Grinnell and Central to
battle for the tournament cliamr
pioiisliip.

The \\'2irtburg Tournament's [ivc
matches in less than 36 hours is a
true test «if endurance It will be
especially tough tor Grinnell as
Coach Peterson plans on taking
only seven players Dave swee.
Joe Topper. Jim Strickicr, Eric
Clil'istiansen. Bennett Bartlett.
‘Evan Spritzer. Tom Warnke and
possibly Torn Arenberg.

Softball

victorious

by Ann Chasson

Last Saturday the Grinnell
women‘s softball team chalked up
their first two wins of the year in a
doubleheader against Cornell.

These victories mark the first
regulation gamc wins in the short
history of women's softball at
Grinnell. in other action last week
the team dropped a game to Coe,
leaving them with a .500 record so
far

Solid defensive play got the
women out oi tight situations. and
\\‘Itl’i the help of some Wild pitching
from the Cornell pitching staff,
Grinnell swept both games.

In the first game. Cornell had
twice as many hits as the Pioneers,
but gave up 16 bases on balls. The
game won in a tense extra
inning. ”>13.

The exciting second game was
also close all the way into the final
inning. when Grinnell again
combined great defense with
Cornell's inconsistent pitching to
win itli.

In summing up the two games,
Coach Winkler remarked. "After
losing to Cornell two weeks ago. it
was good to come back and show
we could compete.” She noted that
the team needs to work more on
their hitting. So far it has been
difficult to get in enough batting
practice because oi the bad
weather.

it was this inconsistent hitting
which lead to Li 13-2 defeat at the
hands of Cue in the first. game ofa
doubleheader last Thursday
Grinnell had 12 hits \\hile Coe
came up with 26.

in thc second game. Co - -
cher \ialkeil IQ of the f st 13
batters. gluing Grinnell a 100 lead
iii ”it top of the first. The game
was called because of darkness
alter three and ii hall innings with
(i linell ahead 20-5.

iliis altcriiopn at -I pm the
Home" face 1| strong Graceland
team at home. Tomorrow they will
travel to ecdar Rapids tor ii
iritlnglllnr incct. tigiiin with Cnc
and Cornell.

 

