European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. February 14, 1986 stars and stripes Page 23 commentary army sports received a Large boost Chuck Large shifted from the Bunker to the Penthouse. Literally. One Day Large was chief of army sports in Europe a seat that sinks into the dark basement of Heidelberg s Thompkins Barracks. The next Day he became chief of recreation and sports at Worms an open office High in the Corner of Tauk Kunn Barracks. Figuratively Large s Job jump seemed straight Down. From head Honcho of army sports to running Worms Bowling and youth activities give that Guy a safety net. Was this a step Down that question has been asked More than anything else since i changed jobs Large said As he relaxed wednesday in his Worms office. It never came to mind before. To me it was a broadening of my base not a step  let s Call it a step sideways. His ultimate step will be across the Atlantic. Large wants to move his wife Jennifer and two children in a couple of years to the serenity of the midlands. That leaves out Washington d.c., where Many thought Large would go to succeed the soon to be retired top dog of army sports Billy Dove. Large despises Washington. Nothing not even Dove s Job could lure him there. So Large checked his options. In order to maintain his High civilian rank and live outside Washington he had to leave sports. He chose the manage ment Field. Goodbye army sports. Hello Worms morale sup port. Before 1 just had sports Large Laid. It was a Little larger scale because it encompassed All of Europe. Now instead of just sports i  other activities  before Large fades into the Worms world of Ping Pong and Pool let s recall his tenure atop army sports in Europe. It lasted from september 1982 to the end of 85. That group at Usa eur Chuck Large and Van Stokes and Larry Parker is the most responsive group we be Ever had there. Ever Bill Merrill said last summer. Soon thereafter Merrill would re tire from v corps after 40 years of helping army sports in Europe. In his View Large s team was the Best in All 40 years. Chuck s greatest characteristic was the Way he stayed Calm while everyone got excited said Parker who was Large s assistant and now is the interim sports chief while us Panlo by Bob Crock ill Chuck Large. Broadening my base the army searches for a permanent replacement. Parker likes to Tell this Story during a hot Hanau Baum older basketball game the clock suddenly went Blank. Large did t blink at All. There Are 32 seconds left he said. Coaches colonels and mascots leaped on Large to convince him of adding or subtracting seconds. Large stood his ground there Are 32 seconds  when the clock finally lit up it showed 32 seconds. He was solid As a pillar when everyone was hollering what Are Large s biggest pillars i. The 1983 All army boxing meet in Augsburg. That was the first All army event held in Europe. Chuck did a Good Job Selling the fact that Augsburg could Host All army and do it Well Parker said. 2. The Best of three Home and Home basketball playoff format. Previous regional tournaments Drew scant crowds because of Little interest in out of town teams. The Home and Home format let All final four teams play in front of packed stands. 3. Boxing records. Large helped rewrite the rules on army boxers who notoriously had listed inflated re cords. Now each Boxer is part of a Europe wide registration and control program. 4. Cooperation with air Force sports. Large closed the Gap Between the services by communicating with Usa be sports chief  Mullins. One result has a couple of army basketball players stationed at Pitburg Tony Ever Ett and Wallace Northcutt. Playing for the Safe team in the air Force worldwide tournament. 5. Sports councils that work. Major command sports directors meet twice a year and actually make the system work for athletes. Before Chuck took Over everybody was arguing and there was no direction at the meetings Parker said. Merrill would argue in his Gruff style and Large stood his ground. Recalled Par Ker Chuck would say Bill you re out of order and Bill would Back  Large 38, Learned his sports while growing up in Lawton okla. He starred in High school basketball then played at Cameron Junior College in Lawton and St. Mary s of san Antonio. After a stint in the army and graduation from southwestern Oklahoma he found his Way to Germany. Large ran Wuerzburg sports starting in 1976. Four years later he landed in Heidelberg first As usar. Eur sports assistant then As chief. The Large playback Best event 1983 All army boxing in Augsburg. Worst event 1981 Usa eur Cross country meet. Large was in charge of planting the Chic see course but Snow forced him into last minute routing. When i was Only one third done i saw 120 runners Start. It came out All right bul it was scary. I foresaw runners scattered All Over the  Best Community athletes Baum older. Best Community organization Stuttgart of the late 1970s, when Tom Hlavacek and Colin Hazelden ran the shop. Best sports director Merrill at v corps. Pencil Chuck Large in that Slot too. Tit Stan and strip olympics May let professionals play Lausanne Switzerland a the International olympic committee has endorsed a proposed Rule change that would open future olympic games to professional athletes in ice hockey soccer and other sports Ioc president Juan Antonio Sama ranch said wednesday. He told reporters this would encourage participation of High level athletes and give All athletes equal Opportunity to compete. The proposed revision of the olympic charter would eliminate the distinction be tween Amateur and professional athletes. An athlete s taking part in the olympics would depend on whether the International sports federations approve it Sam ranch said. He specifically mentioned ice hockey soccer and Tennis sports where International federation rules have prevented olympic participation by top players. For us a professional is the same As a state athlete Sam ranch said in reference to a designation usually applied to soviet bloc athletes. He made his remarks at a news Confer ence after a three Day meeting of the Ioc executive Board that ended wednesday. The charter change will be submitted for approval to the 91-nation Ioc general As Sembly s next meeting in october. The proposal was drafted by a commis Sion headed by will Daume head of the West German National committee and submitted to the 11-member executive Board. Asked whether the move was intended to pressure federations into letting top athletes Lake part in the games Sam ranch referred to the International soccer federation Flea. We re giving to fifa this responsibility. They must think about it and i Hope will take a decision at their next Congress he said. If approved in october the Rule would be in Force for the 1988 Winter games in Calgary. It s a possibility this will heighten pressure on the american hockey leagues to release their Best players with the american National olympic committee paying them Ioc spokeswoman Michele Verdi Craid. Richardson passes drug test escapes 2-year ban new York up Micheal Ray Richardson passed his drug lest wednes Day allowing the new Jersey nets guard to resume his Aba career. Richardson with a history of drug prob lems was in danger of being banned from the Aba for two years under the leagues drug abuse program. Tuesday he underwent urinalysis at the new Jersey College of Medicine and dentistry in Newark . The league announced the results wednesday. Had Rich Ardson tested positively the ban would have taken effect. The test was negative so now it s be tween Richardson and the team said Alex Sachare an Aba spokesman. Our involvement is in overseeing the drug pro Gram. That lakes us out of  Richardson will be in uniform for thurs Day night s game in Cleveland. The nets coach Dave Wohl said Richardson will not Start against the Cavaliers. I really Don t have anything to add said Wohl wednesday night at the team s hotel in Cleveland except that Micheal is Here with the team and he will be dressed for the  Wohl did say that he hoped to meet with Richardson prior to the game. He said he periodically meets with each player i divid  and i will meet but i like to talk to each player one on one from time to Lime. That s All i la say. I have no further com  Richardson was suspended for tuesday night s game against the Detroit pistons for missing practice and a doctor s appoint ment monday. He told the club he had the flu but suspicions arose because of his drug problems. Richardson who signed a four year contract Worth s3 million before the season was also fined. This is really the third or fourth time it s happened missing games practices etc.," Wohl said before learning of the Lesl results. How reliable can he be if i make him a starter the problem is if he can t lick the problem this could happen two or three weeks Down the Road. Then the team goes through another adjustment period. As a coach i have to think of this/1 Richardson returned to the nets Jan. 22 after completing his fourth drug rehabilitation program. To avoid the two year ban Richard son must pass the drug tests weekly. Under the Aba players association s Basic agreement with the owners a player has two chances to rehabilitate himself be fore he is banned. Richardson disappeared from the nets during training Camp in 1983 and again last december he underwent treatment twice before joining the nets but those do not count under the Basic agreement because they occurred before the agreement took effect in 1983