A Midwest Sports Tradition to End After Nearly 100 Years

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union voted last week to eliminate the six-player form of basketball that had endured since 1898.

Each team had three players on offense and three on defense, restricted to their respective halves of the court. A defender who gained possession of the ball had to pass to a teammate at half-court, and she would begin the offense.

Martha Verbrugge, a Bucknell professor of history who is writing a book on women’s physical education in 20th Century America, said the game originated because it was thought that “the full-court five-person game was too physically demanding and stressful for girls and women.

“People were also concerned about the emotional impact of such a competitive and intense game on girls, since they were not considered to be such highly competitive creatures.”

Trivia time: When did the UCLA basketball team last finish with a record below .500 in conference play?

Not like the old days: Seven times during its run of 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 seasons, UCLA was ranked No. 1 at the end of the regular season before going on to win the national championship.

But since 1975, when the Bruins won the last of their titles, only four teams--Indiana in 1976, Kentucky in 1978, North Carolina in 1982 and Duke last season--have won the national championship after ending the regular season ranked No. 1.

Like a hurricane: After his team was defeated by Iowa State, 111-74, Coach Robert Moreland of Texas Southern said: “I wasn’t quite sure before, but now I know what a Cyclone is.”

Ten years ago: On Feb. 9, 1983, an arbitrator ruled against Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia, who was asking for a salary of $215,000. He was paid $150,000.

Selective service: George Raveling, USC basketball coach, spoke at a luncheon in Seattle last Friday after arriving from Pullman, Wash.: “When I left Pullman International, I asked the baggage handler to send one bag to Seattle, one to Portland and the other to Billings, Mont. He said, ‘I can’t do that.’ I said, ‘Why not? You did it two years ago.’ ”

Bruins Illustrated: With Troy Aikman featured this week, this is the 32nd consecutive year that a current or former UCLA athlete or coach has made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Bruins have been on the cover 85 times.

Diver down: Joe Gergen of Newsday, after Riddick Bowe stopped Michael Dokes during the first round of their heavyweight fight Saturday night at New York: “It was as cynical a performance at that level as these eyes have witnessed since Ron Lyle was invited to add his name to Gerry Cooney’s resume. All washed up, with only the memory of past wars as a defense, Lyle took the occasion of a Cooney left hook in the first round on Oct. 24, 1981, to renounce what was left of his future.

“Scott LeDoux, a heavyweight whose only distinction was his perseverance, announced from a seat near ringside, ‘I could feel the splash.’ ”

Trivia answer: During the 1947-48 season, its last before the hiring of John Wooden, when the Bruins were 3-9.

Quotebook: Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez: “I don’t fear death, but I sure don’t like those three-footers for par.”