Evening star., 1955-01-08
New " Group
lobe eNaIIledby
|NCAA Today
Will Set Blank Check
in Settling Problem;
Compromise Likely
sy .hs As.oeiolsa Prsss

NEW xOftlA, Jan. 2 s--- - lSW
television committee win be
chosen by the NCAA today and
instrusted with the delicate task
Of mapping out q football video
program that win please some
factions and appease others.
The committee, to be selected
by the college groups freshly
appointed council. was given q
..blank check" by the conven-
tion yesterday to settle one Of
the NCAA's ''thorniest prob
lems." as Father Edmund r.
Joyce Of Notre Dame put it.
In the next couple of months
the committee viii have to de-
wise a program that win be sat
isfactory to the numerically
powerful Eastern groups, which
want some kind Of q national
game = Of the. week" scheule
again, and the influential,
threatening Big Ten and Pa
cific Coast Conference alliance,
which desires q combination Of
q regional and national pro-
gram.
Compromise Probable.
There was every Indication as
the convention adjourned yes
terday that q compromise
might be effected. When the
committee has completed its de-
liherations. 1t will send out Its
program for q mail vote by the
members. A two-thirds vote is
required for passage.
"The Big Ten probably will do
nothing until a new plan comes
down. said Fritz Crisler Of
Michigan. leading spokesman Of
the Western Conference, on the
floor Of the convention. It was
the tall, gray haired former
coach who stirred up tempest
Thursday when he said the Big
Ten might strike out on its own
LII d more liberal TV program
was not forthcoming.
# + ~
1--WE are open to any other
plan as long as it Is not last
years (national game -of-the-
week prograrn) plan, Crisler
said. 1--WE are not adarnant. We
are willing to compromise. After
all, we are all dealing with the
family's jewels"
II think the matter win be
settled and wen have q 1855
television program beneficial to
ALL" remarked Asa Bushnell,
commissioner of the 101-mem-
ber Eastern College Athletic
Conference.
| Legislatures Big Factor.
II the applicant is kicked over
before the TV group outlines its
plans. it probably will be done
by q maverick member OF the
Big Ten under the pressure of q
State legislature. Illinois, Min
nesota and Ohio are the States
where the legislators pressure is
heaviest for Statewide TV Of
the games Of the State-operated
schools.
An Illinois representative said
he didn't believe university offi-
cials would be able to hold the
i line much longer.
That was behind Crisler's
4 Thursday statement and points
.Iup the significance Of his remark
that the nine other schools
would stand by the school af-
fected and accept consequences. :
The Big Ten-Pacific Coast
combination and its supporters
didn't enjoy the parliamentary
hassle on the floor yesterday
i which wound up in a standing
vote by the members on which
Of the listed TV plans they pre-
| ferred.
/ BY q whopping 4-to-l margin,
the delegates expressed q prefer
ence for some kind Of q national
game OF -the-week" progra N
over the Big Ten sponsored ma
tional-regional tnine regional
four national programs) pro-
posaI. The count was 81 votes fol
the 1854 plan, "a for q iberalized
version Of 1t (the ECAC plan)
81 for Acknowledgment. four fol
unrestricted TV. and one for ths
so-called "one-rule" plan which
would permit each school to Ty
1.-TWO games, one on b network.
VOtlmg - CONFUSING.
But Crisler and others pointed
out that the voting was so casua
and confusing that some OF thu
members voted for at least two
OF the plans. So the final vots
to an often humorous session
was added by the NCAA brass
They decided that instead oi
making it part Of a resolution
the vote count would be passet
on to the new committee as ar
informal informative"
DR.. Albert Moore Of Alabams
was succeeded by Clarence r
Houston of Tufts College a'
president. Los Angeles was ap'
proved as site for next conven.
ton in January. 1866.