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Problems plague crew team's Boston trip
"Your snow control mechanism isn't any
good. I'll have to replace it."
Snow control device? The UNL crew team
didn't know it at the time, but that was a bad
omen of things yet to come on their 3,600-mile
round trip to Boston.
The team traveled in the plush luxury of a
1970 Chevrolet Carry-All, which it paid the
University 10 cents to use. Nine persons rode to
Boston in it. (football jocks, eat your hearts
out).
The snow mechanism incident occurred on
the second day of the journey to Boston. It was
10 a.m. Snow and rain were flirting in the
atmosphere.
While the gasoline was being pumped in the
tank, the station attendant busied himself with
the vehicle's engine. He raised the hood and
began pulling parts off the engine with what
seemed to be reckless abandon. He just
happened to have the proper replacement part
in his coat pocket.
He said he really couldn't explain what the
snow control device did because Detroit only
puts them on vehicles shipped to the West
coast. Another shield and spring had fallen
from the engine and lay on the carryall's engine
block, which had been checked out by the
University.
So, for the price of a tank of gas and $3.25
for a snow control device the team was back on
the road.
The rest of the trip to Boston was relatively
calm. The team talked about the race, women
and played cards in the back of the carryall.
Team members and coach Allan Maybee took
UNL amazes regatta audience
Just as royal families gathered at medieval
jousts to cheer on their favorite knights, the
aristocracy of crew flocked to the
Head-of-the-Charles Regatta to cheer their
water warriors to victory Oct. 22.
Among the 1,490 oarsmen was a small UNL
crew squad. Other crew teams and spectators
seemed amused, if not slightly indignant, that
the UNL team had entered their exclusive
event.
Before the regatta was over, those same
persons voiced respect and encouragement for
the UNL oarsmen.
Mo than 10,000 spectators lined the
banks, bridges and boat houses of the Charles
River to cheer their favorites, as the teams
stroked their sleek racing shells down the river
course.
Some Midwest sports writers had called the
UNL team brash for attempting to compete in
the international event. But Coach Allan
Maybee and team proved themselves to be
equal to the competition.
The UNL teams maneuvered their racing
shell over the winding three mile course in 19
minutes and 13 seconds, less than 90 seconds
behind the winning time of the University of
Virginia.
the crow team finished 21st out of 36
entries in the intermediate four division of the
regatta, the only event it entered.
Among the teams the UNL crew defeated
were Dartmouth, (last year's winner), Yale,
Columbia University and Holy Cross.
Harry Parker, 1972 U.S. Olympic crew
coach and coach for the Harvard team, said
Nebraska was not out of its class at the regatta.
Although the Nebraska team was more than
1,800 miles from home, they were not without
a cheering section.
Maybee and crew took more than 500 Big
Red clickers to the regatta, which were
distributed to spectators before the race. As the
UNL crew stroked down the river they were
greeted by both verbal encouragement and
clicks.
The UNL squad also carried Nebraska No. 1
bumper stickers to Cambridge, which were
placed discreetly on the Harvard campus.
Maybee said he was optimistic about the
team's record. He noted his team had been
practicing on Branched Oak Lake with a
42-year-old shell and had had only one day to
learn how to row in the newer shell Harvard
loaned them for the regatta.
Maybee said Nebraska definitely will be back
for the regatta next year and possibly will enter
more events.
turns driving. The sleeping arrangment was
haphazard-anywhere a place could be found in
the back of the carryall or on the seats.
Once the team arrived in Boston, the
members began making arrangements for the
race and picked up several racing shells to bring
back to Nebraska. Even though crew is a
popular sport on the East coast, the Nebraska
team received many stares on their return trip
as they drove along the coast with three 65-foot
shells on a trailer.
The return trip took 54 hours because
towing three shells meant driving at 50 mph.
In Bridgeport, Conn., the trailer and the rear
panel of the carryall were struck by a delivery
van.
The state patrolman investigating the
accident remarked that the driver was due in
court in Alabama the next week to face charges
of automobile theft.
The mutual question of "What will happen
next?" was soon answered for the team. A state
official pulled up beside the UNL rig and
motioned to pull over. The officer pulled out a
tape, measured the length of the rig, the over
hang and asked Maybee to get into the patrol
car.
When a nervous Maybee explained the
team's misfortunes to the patrolman, he
convinced him not to levy the $250 fine for
having too-large a trailer.
At 8 p.m. the night before the team returned
to Lincoln, they pulled into a gas station for a
fill up.
Tank full, the gas station attendant told
Maybee he couldn't accept the credit card even
though the card listed the gas station on it.
After about 20 minutes of arguing, the
attendant called the equally obstinate station
manager.
Protests from Maybee that the same card
had been used several times for the same
company's gas station went unheeded. Maybee
told the manager to either take the credit card
or siphon the gas out of the tank. Thirteen and
nine-tenths gallons filled up about every empty
container the gas station had.
The attendant sihponed gas into oil cans,
radiators, water cans and finally was forced to
empty the trash barrel and siphon gas into that.
Meanwhile the team milled around asking if
anyone had a match.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. The last
few hours seemed long as the weary team
readied themselves to return to their regular
schedule of classes and practices.
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page 12
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, november 1, 1972