European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday. January 21. 1990 the stars and stripes Page 23 comments Refl should grab underclassmen by John Maher Cox news sen ice Austin. Texas a it s about Lime the nil started openly accepting talented underclassmen like Alabama linebacker Keith Mccants. And it s Way past time for colleges to Slop clinging to athletes who might be better off elsewhere. Mccants confirmed tuesday what has been rumoured for months. Hell be passing up his senior year at Alabama to turn pro. That seems simple and logical enough. There Are a lot of people who have left College Early to pursue a Good business Opportunity. Mccants. However is a football player. And for years the National football league has been the Only major league with a Rule prohibiting underclassmen from entering the draft. That was just Fine with the colleges who serve As the minor leagues that the nil does t have to pay to support. It was of for the nil. Which did no to want to anger the colleges by stealing away players it would end up getting anyway. About the Only ones who did t Benefit from the Rule were the athletes the same athletes who Are hindered by so Many needless Mcaa rules. Mccants move and the exodus of underclassmen that Likely will follow will generate gloom and doom talk from the colleges. There la be noise about How the nil is damaging College football by skimming off its stars. That a nonsense. The Aba has accepted underclassmen in the draft for years and College basketball is hardly suffering. In fact its the no aah a new $1 billion Deal for its basketball tournament that finally has the football Powers seriously talking about a legitimate playoff system rather than the bowl hoax it perpetrates on the Public. There la also be hand ring a ing for the athletes who la mis of judge their Worth and pass up their senior year Only to he 1 passed Over in the draft. That  be a problem if the Mcaa had More sensible rules about the contacts its athletes. Could make regarding their own future. Why  an athlete be Able to talk with agents owners or anyone else who could help him make a smart decision in his chosen Field of business a athletics Mccants certainly has made the Best move. At 6 fool-5. -55 pounds he s a bigger faster version of Lawrence Taylor. Mccants not Only figures to be the top pick in the upcoming draft but also the top of the food Chain an attacking linebacker who should be Able to eat up nil quarterbacks. Keith Mccants players who can sack quarterbacks Are Worth almost As much As the quarterbacks themselves. Mccants does no to figure to gel As much As the is 1 million that the Dallas cowboys paid for Troy Aik Man last year but his package certainly wont be dwarfed by what Aikman received. Mccants would t have been Able to increase his value one Nickel if head played another Vear. You can to go any higher than the first pick that he figures to be. Instead Mccants could have lost Money if head stuck around to play another season for the school that All but ran of this old coach. Bill Curry. Scouts would have started looking for his weaknesses rather than his strengths. That a what happened to Dan Marino whom everyone was raving about after his Junior season at Pittsburgh. After a frustrating senior season there were enough questions about whether Marino could read coverages that lesser quarterbacks were drafted ahead of him. Then there Are always injuries to consider in a collision sport. A Star running Back or linebacker is Only one nit a and a knee injury a away from being a shopworn commodity. Most nil Caliper College athletes will Gamble that they la stay healthy and increase their value in their senior seasons. But those who have nothing to gain like Mccants. Should be allowed to enter the draft. How can you deny an athlete the right to make a living Thompson Foreman Tarkanian Stallone notes by Phil Jackman the Baltimore evening Sun Reading time two minutes there san unconfirmed Rumor boating around Washington that when College teams get around to slicing their schedules from 28 to 25 games in 1992. Georgetown a John Thompson is looking to drop big East Road games against Syracuse. Villanova and St. John s to comply. St. Leos stays a there were 41 no shows at the Broncos Browns game last sunday. And we were always led to believe Denver ites Are Bronco mad. A George Foreman has this to say about the likes of Mark Gastineau and Tony Mandarich wanting to get into boxing sans formal training Quot if a former dishwasher like me can make it. Certainly a big. Tough football player  speaking of Foreman his Success against Gerry Cooney the other night has Larry Holmes champing at the bit to take on big George. For some reason. Holmes thinks hell be a big draw and can command s3 million for the assignment. A sometimes you have to think univ coach Jerry Tarkanian does things just to raise the hackles of the Mcaa. Tark is wailing on a gaming License for his restaurant and bar located just off the school Campus. Students Don t frequent the place much though because the prices Are Loo High. Even for athletes a the movie Rocky v has begun a six week shoot in Philadelphia. With no intent to give away the plot look for or. Balboa to face his greatest Challenge what again wherein he is pined against his own values strength and. Ultimately his own spirit. Hey. Instead of his tango amp Cash stint with Kurt Russell Why did t sly Stallone pull a Peter Sellers and have Rocky and rambo As police partners it could Start a whole new series of roman numerals. A senior circuit update Minnie min Oso. Father of children ranging in age from 37 years to 14 months wants to Pinch hit for the White sox sometime this summer so he can say he played in six decades beginning with the 1940s. He already holds the modern Day record of five. A Buck Williams the sex Maryland Terp who is quite simply an immense individual has this to say about his Trade from the new Jersey nets Quot in Portland we re the Only game in town. The players Are revered my family is treated like  after eight seasons in the Jersey swamps he deserves it. A it has been six years since any ten Nis player in the East made it into the top 10 in the collegiate rankings. A after the major indoor Lacrosse league s defending Champ. Philadelphia Drew 16,000 to the spectrum for its Home opener against Pittsburgh an 11-8 Winit faces nearly a month before its next game. Methinks. The league needs a schedule maker. A super bowl tickets Are priced at $125 with some at $150. And that does not include transportation to the super dome in n awns. A officials in a big East basketball game the other night pulled a fast one and called hand checking fouls thousands of them. Good grief what next travelling a one of the Washington Caps w inders. After the club won Terry Murray debut As coach 9-6, cited a new Power play and a change in offensive philosophy for the Success. The team Hadnot even had a practice under Terry