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The Red and Black
Tuesday. April 20. 1982
Weekend losses dim Dogs’ play-off hopes
By BRIAN R. MOERSC’H
K*4 and Blsrk Walt Writer
It's too bad that the Georgia baseball
team couldn't take some lessons from
the Atlanta Braves Because as the
Braves were winning their ninth. 10th
and 11th in a row. the Dogs lost a rain-
shortened two-game series to Ten
Oessee to diminish hopes of securing a
Southeastern Conference play-off
berth
The Dogs dropped a double-header to
the Vols Sunday, 9-4,5-3
"We made a couple of defensive
mistakes that hurt us, ' Assistant Coach
Dan Radison said "We just didn't get a
lot of breaks and things just didn't work
out for us."
In the opening game, Georgia starter
Hugh Kemp (5-4 after the loss)
struggled as the Dogs fell behind 4-0
after two innings The Dogs came back
and added three runs in their half of the
third on the strength of solo homers by
David Jackson, his third, Rick Fuentes,
his fifth, and Jeff Treadway, his third
Tennessee added a single run in their
half of the third to make the score 5-3,
and then added three more runs in the
fourth to secure the win
The Vols' Teddy Carson pitched
masterfully and picked up the win to
boost his season record to 7-1
In the second game, Georgia scored
three runs in the first inning to jump out
to a 3-0 lead, but couldn't hold on as
Tennessee came back to tie the score in
the third The Vols took the lead for
good with a single run in the fourth and
added another run later in the game to
make the final 5-3.
Tennessee pitcher Jimmy Johnson,
who was pitching his first game after a
shoulder injury, proved to be the dif
ference as he shut the door on the Dog
hitters after the first inning and
recorded his first win of the season
against no defeats.
The loss drops Georgia's SEC record
to 7-9, 18-16 overall, and it falls into
fourth place of the Eastern Division.
Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky in two
weekend games and moved into second
place with an 8-9 record. Tennessee is
now 9-4 in the SEC and 20-7 overall. The
Vols are now tied with Florida for first
place in the division.
The Dogs now have to rely on other
teams in the division to help them out if
they are to have any chance at an SEC
tournament berth. Both Florida and
Tennessee have nine conference games
remaining while the Dogs have just six.
Florida has a three-game series left
with Vanderbilt, Tennessee and
Georgia. Tennessee must play Ken
tucky, Vanderbilt and Florida, while
the Dogs have Florida at home and
Kentucky on the road. This all means a
very interesting final three weeks of the
season and Georgia Coach Steve
Webber doesn't think the Dogs are out
of contention.
“We have six games left and the two
teams in front of us have nine games
left," Webber said, "so we'll have to
win most of those games. We are still in
contention and we’ll approach those
games with that in mind.”
The Dogs play Newberry College
today at 3 p.m. at Foley Field. Guy
Stargell (3-0) will start for the Dogs
Newberry, under Coach Clyde Miller, is
20-18 on the season
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Vanderbilt
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Kentucky
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Alabama
Auburn
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LSU
Kastern Division
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Vince Dooley: Thurson was on the verge of being the best linebacker in Georgia history
resultant operation.
Although Timmy continued playing,
these are the kinds of things that have
to be weighing on the Thurson family,
especially Tommy's father. Any man
who watches two of his sons have their
careers essentially ended due to in
jury, has to have some qualms about
surgery for yet another.
Tommy, however, feels that what
has happened to his brothers bears no
relation to his current problems, and
his father won't let the past affect the
present "If 1 get the operation I know
i’ll be doing these exercises all my
life," Thurson said. “But if I don't get
better in the next two weeks, I have no
other choice — I have to get the opera
tion. He (his father) can accept that."
The operation is fairly routine,
relatively speaking It basically con
sists of making an incision, going in
with a microscope and removing a '•,,-
inch bone. "It’s really a simple opera
tion," Thurson said. The specialists
seem to believe that the operation
(microsurgery) is necessary to
alleviate the pressure, and Dr
Mulherin thinks that Tommy's odds of
recovery would be increased by the
surgery.
However, nothing can be presumed
when it comes to Thurson's future in
football “The operation wouldn't
assure that he could play next year,"
Mulherin said. “At this stage of the
game, however, it appears that the
operation might increase his chances
of playing, but that's only a guess We
want him to continue with the conser
vative approach ”
The next two weeks are crucial.
Everything rides on the progress
Thurson makes, and at this point the
whole situation is still uncertain
"You couldn't speculate on that,”
Morris said. "I don't think the doctors
could even do that."
Meanwhile, if the physical burdens
aren't enough to distract Thurson, the
accompanying mental strain will only
heighten his anxiety. Football players
have their own comfortable schedules
and Thurson’s has been all but
destroyed. "I don't like practicing,
but I like to be out there," he said.
"All my friends are out there.”
Faced with what will surely be a
long, grueling rehabilitation process,
Thurson can only look forward to
more monotony. In no way will the
process be enjoyable or easy, and the
tendency to slip into self-pity will
have to be continually brushed aside.
If Thurson can muster the same
desire and effort he puts into the
vicious tackling that is his forte, he
will have a chance at recovery.
Georgia Coach Vince Dooley has
said that Thurson was on the verge of
possibly being the best linebacker in
Georgia history. No one can tell if he
will ever reach that level again. For
now, the waiting is definitely the
hardest part.
Thurson hopes exercises
will prevent back surgery
turned out, the injury was extremely
serious and wasn't to his leg at all A
monogram test showed that he had a
ruptured disc in his back.
The realization was a cruel one, in
deed "I think, like anyone else, he
saw his career flash before his eyes,"
Georgia linebacker Coach Dale
Strahm said Thurson took the news of
the injury with predictable frustra
tion. "When I first heard about it, I
was really depressed, everything was
just messed up," he said.
That was more than a month ago,
and Thurson's situation is still very
worrisome. He is seeing two physi
cians in Athens, Drs W B Mulherin
and Robert "Happy" Dicks, plus he is
seeing specialists in Columbus at the
Houston Sports Medicine Foundation.
Thurson is presently undergoing
physical therapy in a whirlpool and is
doing various exercises to strengthen
his abdominal area and take pressure
off the lower back. He is also undergo
ing traction in his McWhorter Hall
dorm room.
The catch here is that no one knows
if these exercises are going to be suffi
cient for recovery or if they are just
prolonging an inevitable operation.
Thurson hopes for the former. “1
think there are other ways beside an
operation I don't have pain anymore,
but its still hard to gel out of bed. It’s
slow progress. ”
The doctors and trainers are op
timistic that, for Tommy’s sake,
surgery won't be necessary But they
are also realistic. "He has gotten bet
ter with the exercises," Head Trainer
Warren Morris said. "But it is a ques
tion of whether he's gotten better
enough to play football or better
enough to get around to class. He
could respond to the exercises.
There's at least a 50-50 chance."
“If he continues to improve like he
has over the last month, he may be at
the point where he won’t need the
operation," Dr Mulherin said. "He is
progressing with the conservative ap
proach, but had he had the surgery I
feel he would have been farther
along.”
The threat of surgery hangs over
Thurson's head like an ominous cloud.
Both he and his father have witnessed
the distress that such operations can
cause Tommy’s brother Terry suf
fered an injury to his neck in high
school and after an operation he was
unable to play football again. Another
brother, Timmy, tore an achilles ten
don and his play was hampered by the
Doctors and trainers are op
timistic that surgery won't be
necessary. There’s a 50-5#
chance that Thurson could res
pond to the exercises.
By CHARGESAARON
Ked and Black staff Writer
“Cut down in his prime."
An insipid cliche, maybe But for
too many college football players,
that simple phrase haunts them like
an obscene epitaph Each year, more
bright careers are snapped and cur
tailed by serious injury The attrition
rate is frightening For players whose
entire lives revolve around football, it
is terrifying
Georgia linebacker Tommy Thur
son is now in the middle of such an
emotional and physical battle. He's
not terrified yet, but he sounds
frightened
Thurson's injury difficulties started
back in the seventh game of the 1981
season. He began to feel pain in his
leg, but with visions of a national
championship still lingering, he con
tinued to play, dismissing the pain as
a hamstring problem Unfortunately
for Thurson, the problem was not with
his hamstrings
After returning from the Sugar
Bowl, Georgia resumed work and
began to lift weights Thurson, of
course, had an obligation to work like
anyone else - although his leg was
still bothering him. The first time
Thurson tried to pick up a weight, he
couldn’t even get it off the floor. As it
Mangan rebounded from his back injury to win 6-2, 6-3 in No. 1 singles
Dogs extend win streak
with victory over Florida;
Alabama match delayed
By JOHN CHILDERS
Brd •ml Slack stall Writer
The men's tennis team ran its winning streak to 14 matches
and remained undefeated in Southeastern Conference play
by defeating Florida 7-2 Saturday The Bulldogs' match with
Alabama, originally scheduled for Monday in Tuscaloosa,
was postponed because of rain Plans for rescheduling the
match are being "negotiated" according to Alabama coach
Armi Neel
Saturday's match with Florida was played in the indoor
facilities of the Georgia tennis complex because of rainy con
ditions A leak in the roof over court one further reduced the
number of available courts to three
When the limited court space was combined with the
unusually large number of three-set matches, the match
became a test of endurance as well as tennis prowess The
match, which started at 2 pm. took over five and a half
hours to complete
Georgia was led by John Mangan who returned to action
after missing a week with a back injury The senior made his
comeback by knocking off Richard Hassler, filling in for
John Kennedy. 8-2. 6-3 in the singles and then teaming with
Peter Lloyd to capture the No 2 doubles match with a 5-7,6-2,
6-4 win over Jim McLemore and Colin McAlpine
While Mangan was celebrating a successful return, team
mate Tom Foster was not enjoying the action Foster drop
ped a heartbreaking 7-6, 3-6, 76 match for George Tanase at
No. 2 singles Foster was serving for the match in the third
set with a 3-1 lead in the ninth game Tanase fought back,
however, and pulled out the game and eventually, the
match.
Foster's luck did not improve in the doubles action either
as he and partner Deane Frey dropped the No. 3 match to
Scott Mager and Eddie Herrmann 6-4,6-1
The Georgia freshmen continued to play solid tennis, giv
ing the Bulldogs a strong middle of the lineup
Ailen Miller captured the No. 3 singles match with a 6-3,
46, 6-3 win over McLemore McLemore is a former No. 1
player for the Gators
In the No. 4 singles match, George Bezecny overcame a
slow start to defeat Mager 36, 6-3, 6-2. Frey took the No. 5
singles match with a 6-2,6-1 win over McAlpin
Lloyd closed out the singles action with a 6-4, 6-1 win over
Herrmann
Miller and Ola Malmqvist squeezed out a 6-7, 76, 76 win
over Tanase and Hassler in the No. l doubles
The win was important for the Bulldogs as it opens up the
stretch run in SEC play Monday's match with Alabama will
be made up if possible but Neely said rescheduling may be
difficult because of class conflicts