European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday August 7,1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 Gritty group vies for pouts a a Job la Jolla Calif. A the four players assembled at the san Diego chargers training Camp to compete for the quarterback s Job once owned by Dan Fouts Are above All survivors. The group is a Gritty collection two cast offs a fifth year pro who has yet to throw a pass in a regular season game and a Sec Ond year player whose Lack of experience virtually makes him a Rookie. All of them have managed to keep their careers flickering to take a Stab at succeed ing Fouts the six time All pro who retired earlier this year after directing a record set Ting san Diego offence for 15 years. When you lose one of the finest quarterbacks to Ever play the game it leaves a terrific Gap chargers coach al Saunders said. You Don t replace a Dan Fouts you follow him. But his skills and the great things he did in this organization Are past. You have to go  Mark Malone who withstood nearly two years of Boos and catcalls in Pitts Burgh is considered the leading Candi Date for the Job. But Malone acquired in april for an eighth round Choice and a conditional pick is being challenged by free agent babe Laufenberg. Mark Vlasic the chargers fourth round pick in 1987, also has had a Good training Camp after a lacklustre performance during the Spring minicams. He is Given the Edge Over free agent Steve Fuller for the third quarterback Slot. The quarterback for us now this year has to be a play maker Guy Saunders said. We Aren t Good enough Overall from a personnel standpoint to have a classic drop Back passer to be Able to protect him. You be got to have a Guy who if the pocket Breaks Down he s Able to get out of there and run around throw the Ball up the Field or flush from the pocket on a third and seven and get the first  All four candidates have the ability to Mark Malone. Leading candidate scramble with Fuller and Vlasic consid ered the better pure passers and Malone and Laufenberg Given the Edge in athletic ability Saunders said. Fuller who like Malone is in his eighth year was a sometime starter in 4 /2 years with the Kansas City chiefs and played behind Jim Mcmahon in Chicago through 1986. He was out of football last year. While the four compete among them selves they must also Deal with the legacy of Fouts who retired As the second most prolific passer in nil history. I m sure for whoever plays Here people Are going to say Dan Fouts would have completed that pass or touts would have brought them Back " Laufenberg who has turned Heads before with his exhibition play but has yet to Complete a pass in the regular season said. I think that s something you can t let bother you Laufenberg said. There s going to be a lot of new people at All positions so it s not something where the Only piece of the Puzzle that s missing As opposed to last year is the  the chargers also Are changing their offensive scheme to better accommodate the styles of the quarterbacks. Jerry Rhome the former redskins quarterback coach hired As san Diego s offensive coordinator after Washington s super bowl Victory is installing a scheme that accents the run to set up the passing game. I think that s the Way to go Rhome said. You be got to be Able to run the Ball in the nil to be  Veteran tight end Kellen Winslow who represents one of the last links to the chargers glory Days said the team May go through an identity crisis for a while. This team because of the importance of the quarterback position will go through some changes As far As identity he said. If it was under the old system i think it would be very difficult. But the fact that we be got a new system it s like everybody is starting Over fresh so i Don t think the transition is going to be that  Malone and Laufenberg hold the key to that transition with Vlasic who played sparingly As a Rookie and Fuller As the wild cards. I really believe honestly that i can play Here that i can Start Here said Malone. It was never a question Back there in Pittsburgh As to my capability of playing Malone added. It got to be such a bad situation with the fans there that they Felt it was unfair for me. And i also Felt As Well As they did it was unfair for my  Malone a native of the san Diego area said joining a team that wants him has made a big difference. It s been a refreshing change there s no doubt Malone said. And i think that has a lot to do with How you per form and How you go out on the Field every Day and do your  said the nope that Malone would Benefit by the change of scenery was precisely Why the chargers traded for him. I Don t know anybody who could have performed Well in the environment he was in in Pittsburgh Saunders said. That had to be something very taxing to him. He certainly has not shown any residual effects of that , meanwhile finally appears to have a Chance to play a significant role in san Diego after being a perennial Reserve in Washington 1983-85 and new Orleans 1986. He also had tryouts in 1985 wit san Diego and Kansas City last year but failed to make the final  if he loses out on the starting Job Laufenberg could Latch onto the no. 2 Job left vacant with the Trade earlier this year of Mark Herrmann to  right now he s got his Eye on the top  m hoping that this might be the spot for me he said. Obviously for a Guy like me i Don t think you can get a better Situa Tion in the sense that the Guy who was no. 1 last year is gone and the Guy who was no. 2 last year is gone. That s  he said he has Learned plenty while sit Ting on the Bench but that what he wants most is to put that knowledge to work. I think the thing that has really kept me going is the fact that i Haven t played Laufenberg said. I think i have the capabilities but obviously you have to have a showcase for them. Sure i be been frustrated by not hav ing played. I see Guys around the league and there s just no doubt in my mind i m better than some of those people. But they re playing and i m not. I think in my situation i really just need to get in and  you have of wait but the Price is right by Steve Elliott Honolulu a regulars say the Ala Wai Golf course in t nearly the Quality of resort courses Here but the same golfers will Tell you they feel Lucky when they re Able to play a round on these links. You see Ala Wai a Public course is a rare bargain in this Home of 800,000 and dream vacation destination for millions. Faced with paying up to $85 at private courses golfers Are known to Camp out to play these 18 holes for $4 on weekdays and $6 on weekends. The demand at Ala Wai is so great that 198,656 rounds were played last year an average of 544 a Day Lead ing the National Golf foundation to Call it the busiest course in the world. The National average for an 18-Hole Public course is 50,000 rounds a year according to the Nof. Obtaining reservations for Ala Wai is a matter of Luck. Thousands of Calls Jam a computerized phone reservation system a week before a Day of play and a Day s 100 tee times Are gone in less than an hour. Usually unable to obtain reservations untold numbers of golfers uti Lize a wait and Hope method at Ala Wai showing up without reservations and banking on cancellations. Rick to is one of the unlucky Many who did t obtain a reservation one summer Day and was 61 St on the wait ing list when he spoke with a reporter. If you be got a lot of time this is the place to says pausing to hear that his name in t among a group just called off the waiting list. The word Over Here is  sometimes the wait is 15 minutes other times it s three hours to says. Occasionally it s forever. Ala Wai one of four Public courses on Oahu Island is Flat and fairly straight. Foursomes Are a must and six Somes Aren t uncommon. Ala Wai a Par 70 course in t for beginners or for those who play at a leisurely Pace to says. Volunteer mar Shalls prod groups after they tee off at six minute intervals and officials say the average six some completes 18 holes in four hours. For Many of Honolulu s avid golfers Ala Wai is the Only affordable Way to play the sport. Centrally located behind Waikiki it s the most convenient of the City s Public courses. What s happening on this Island is the private courses Are getting More expensive and they re full says David Mills City Golf administrator. A Golf round Here for under $10? we re the Only ones who offer  Mills attributes the High year round demand for Ala Wai s tee times to Honolulu s favourable weather and Large retired population. Probably 50 percent of the Guys Are retired and we have basically a 365-Day Calendar of Golf Mills says. They just like to play Golf  before a Day of Competition be gins at Ala Wai a Battle has raged Fortee times. A computerized phone sys tem at the course answers one Call every five seconds As an average of 35,000 Calls an hour Are attempted and a Day s Worth of reservations usually Are gone in an hour Mills says. Oahu s other two 18-Hole Public Golf courses tripled the National average of 50,000 rounds last year while a Public nine Hole course More than doubled the National average of 18,000 rounds. Mills says the City is planing two More Public courses while officials Are consid ering expanding the nine Hole course to18 holes. But those will be Well away from the heart of the City and Mills sees Little Relief on the Way for Ala Wai. Because of its location you la never take the Load off Ala Wai Mills says. Aba regulars will test olympic cagers new York a olympic Basket Ball coach John Thompson said Friday the seven game tour against Aba players will help his team in a number of ways with the Seoul games less than six weeks away. The tour starts sunday in Providence r.i., moves to Charlotte n.c., for two games then finishes with single games in Richfield Ohio Auburn Hills mich., Oklahoma City and Denver. I feel very definitely it provides us with an Opportunity to see different peo ple in different places although we have had a Little of that going against the three professional Rookie teams he said. I think it puts us in a different Environ ment and setting with fans in the stands. I think what we want to see is the execution of plays. We want to see peo ple stick to what they have been practice ing. We want 19 see people s reactions to players like Ewing and  Thompson knows Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin two of the Aba players lined up for the game in Providence quite Well. Ewing was the Center for his Georgetown teams for four seasons that featured three trips to the final four and one National championship. Mullin starred at St. Johns like Georgetown a member of the big East conference Over the same period. Both were members of the 1984 olympic team which won the Gold medal. This will be the first time we play against the likes of sleepy Floyd Patrick Ewing Michael Adams Reggie Lewis Terry Cummings and Alvin Robertson so there s a certain amount of baptism involved and a certain nervousness that the kids Are going to experience he said. Thompson said there will be some things the Aba players cannot provide to get the team ready for International play. The biggest thing i see As a problem is the Aba players will be More talented As individuals but we need More work against a system Thompson said. Certainly with the outstanding players who will be there it will be important to see reactions against match ups. But it is More important for us to have some film footage to sit Down and Analyse what plays people Are running and How Are they  said the russians have played 111 games after facing the Atlanta Hawks. Well we Haven t played one except for the Rookie scrimmages. So it s important for us to Analyse systems and establish scouting