European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday May 28,1988 the stars and stripes Page s3 commentary Abc s la fest As fhe Book Furns when Roone Arledge was presiding High wide and handsome Over Abc network sports Jim Spence was widely perceived in i he Media As his Hatchet Man. Well now he has buried the Hatchet. In Roonce while he s Al it he lakes a swipe at a few of her scalps most notably Howard Cosell a president Reagan called them kiss and Tell books. They have become a phenomenon of our age. They probably originated with spoils books. Jim Brosnan a Pitcher Tor Cincinnati pioneered the genre with a diary like Tome the Long season which opened the door of the baseball clubhouse to the Tan and let him see his heroes warts and All. As an expose it was not really in the class with Donald Regan s or Jim Spence s but it showed there was an App tile and a Market for behind the scenes stuff. Before that historians usually had to Wail a dec Ade or two and for a formal biography to find out what had been going on before their very eyes. Prior to Brosnan sports books ran heavily to and then i hit a triple Down the left Field line,1 or out of the Corner of my Eye i saw Randy was open we did t find out till 20 years after he d died that babe Ruth drank or thai Tycobb was Homicidal off the Field Loo. Now you know that kind of stuff Ai soon As the presses run. Now. If the new York Yankee Outfield climbs up on a Washington hotel roof to Ogle Young ladies undressing we find out about it via a Jim Bouton Book almost As soon As they climb Down. There was a natural progression from that to the mommie Dearest Type of Hollywood Biog. And then we moved Bac stairs Al the White Home. No body in the country knew Warren Harding had an illegitimate child except Warren and the Mother. Hardly anyone in the country knew Franklin Roose velt was crippled. That Era has closed. Spence s Book up close and personal gives a running account of the infighting at to networks while the players Are still around to say who me like All such books Spence s is pan spice part spite. Jim Murray Roonce Arledge was the closest thing to the invisible Man you could find when he was running Abc sports when he chose to. He could make Howard Hughes look gregarious. Even Bing Crosby was moved to observe wryly on to once Roone a Tudge Good Man. Hard to  Jim Spence identifies him accurately enough As the most significant figure in the history of television sports in America. Roone knew what the pub Lic wanted live sports. They could t get enough of it. It was the last bastion of spontaneity on the ubic he Only fresh fruit on the network. Everything else came out of a on. Roone had an unerring instinct for what played on the to screen stars nol things. With Roone the play was t the thing the players were. He made monday night football an american meal Nolc. He look the olympics out of the category of the quadrennial track meet or Toboggan run and made them into a powder less War. Roone took cake of the big picture Spence the details. And Spence complains. Arledge Gener ated All this heat without going near the Kitchen. His human qualities did not match his professional  writes Spence. He accuses Arlodge of creating a Garbo like Mysti que about himself of making a lifelong career out of unavailability. Some of it was insensitivity some of it was hostility All of it was calculated claims Spence. Arlodge in his Book comes Oil As More Caplain Bligh than Captain video a Man who considered his Crew expendable and himself infallible. His managerial philosophy was to hire two people for the same Job and Lei them fight it out an dec Utvic technique As old As William Randolph Hearst or maybe even William of Orange. Spence makes arc do As aloof to the bloodshed As a Guy watching a cockfight. His solution for any problem says Spence was to do nothing until it went away even if it took two or i rec trusted employees with it. Arc dec was a Jock Chaser who liked to fill his Booths with inarticulate halfback Broad shouldered platform divers and of her political footballers be cause he liked to socialize with them afterwards while he systematically demoted or dealt off such seasoned professionals As Chris sch Nicl. Still arc dec s most celebrated creation was that strange phenomenon Howard Cosell. No unlike Lier figure Ever by stoic the narrow Straits of sports. Stooped angular possessed of an accent part Bronx and part Canarsie and a m ind like a steel Iraq Howard Cosell fascinated America As Arledge knew he would. He had made somewhat of a reputation As Muhammad Ali s buddy and the two of them poured the world like a network Frick and frack or a pair of burlesque comics. No one Ever figured out whether Howard Cosell made monday night football or monday night football made Howard Cosell but the result for Yean was magic. America never knew whether it disliked or admired Howard Cosell Hul. Either Way it watched. Howard Cosell Jim Spence writes was a victim of his own celebrity and his own insecurity. He began to see enemies in lamp posts and vindictiveness overtook judgement Spence writes. In Stead of enjoying his Success he let it devour him. With Cosell. All of it knew we were dealing with a Man whose problems and insecurities had Over whelmed  one of the things that overwhelmed Cosell was a spiteful Little Memoir he wrote in which he took to Uuk nearly everyone who had Ever worked closely with him. One wonders if it is endemic at Abc or merely an occupational Hazard in a profession where so Many who arc owed so Little Are paid so much. Spence gives us a fascinating look behind the logo at the Heady world of Limos Lear jets and luxury suites. But us coat of arms should be the Bac bite rampant on a Field of double crosses and Dollar signs. Maybe he should have titled in the agony of Victory or the thrill of  Mauser gives Fulda first gym Crown by Tracy Tanner stuff writer Kitzinger West Germany Fri Day was Fulda s Day it the Central euro Pean gymnastics championships As Amanda Hauser brought the Falcons their first Ever title Mauser placed first All around among the 30 competitors in the senior division of the compulsory class Iii Competition. Although that award is not among the most prestigious of this three Day meet the optional were scheduled to begin at 10 15 . Saturday in marked one giant step in Fulda s gymnastics history just the same. As coach and Mother to the Champ Melissa Hauser said this puts Fulda on the  until this year Fulda did t even have a team. Melissa changed that. However actually winning had not occurred to her or to Amanda. I knew i d done Well on the beam she said of her 9.10 first placing but i did t realize my other scores were so  they were in fact High enough to give her a .95 edit Over her nearest competitor Krista Neumann of Frankfurt who finished with a 35.65 total. However Amanda did t monopolize every event. The beam was the Only sin see gym on Page 25 Edberg Navratilova win Evert teeters on bad Heel Martina Narnst Liiva. Reaches fourth round Paris a second seeds Stefan Edberg and Martina Navratilova scored straight set victories that were tougher than usual Friday at the French open and Chris Evert hoped her injured foot would heal enough to allow her w keep playing. Evert Winner of a record seven singles titles in Paris had her right Heel re examined and said she would decide sat urday morning whether to play her third round match later in the Day. After beating countryman Jan Gunnarsson fr-3, 6-4.7-6, Edberg a normally mild mannered swede criticized tournament officials who made him play iwo of his tint three matches on a bumpy out Side court. I deserve better than thai the world s no. 2 Tennis player said after finally clinching a spot in the fourth round on his sixth match Point. Navratilova trying to regain the women s lop spot and win her third singles title in Paris also had trouble before Downing Austria s Barbara Paulus 6-2,6 2 on Center court. Navratilova advanced to the fourth round. It s Only As easy As you make it said Navratilova who encountered problems with Paulus  and her own errors. She s a really Good player. You can t just look at the  another seed was eliminated from the women s Field by one of the three teen agers to Advance. Nicole Provis an 18 year old from Australia Defeated seventh seeded Claudia to hic Kilsch of West Germany 1-6,6-4,7-s. Two other seeds struggled to Victory. Yannick Noah the men s ninth seed from France needed four sets to Calm a worried full House on Center court and overcome Jakob Flasck of Switzerland 6-4,6-4,6-7,6-3, earlier on he same court women s Isle seeded Sylvia Hanika of West Ger Many rallied to defeat Isabelle Demong eol of France j-6,7-i, 6-4. Other seeds had an easier time. Men s 15lh-secded Guillermo Pyrcz Roldan of Argentina and women s loth seeded Zina Garrison of Houston and 13th Sec did Natalia Zvy Crova of the soviet Union won in straight sets. The status of the third seeded Evert remained in doubt. She injured the Heel of her right fool in the italian open ear Lier this month and had to default she said Friday that the pain was nol As intense but still bothered her. I saw she was favouring the fool even when she walked said Navratilova a close Friend of even s who also has battled chronic injuries. I just Hope she gets better quickly. What s worst is when nobody can Tell you what is wrong a rainstorm rolled through Paris in the evening bringing an Early end to play. Sus Pended matches included iwo involving seeded players with no. 3 Mats Wilander of Sweden and no. 9 Andre Agassi of Las vegas ncv., up by a set