We are in the midst of a sports limbo. No Harvard team is playing in any local contests, and as a matter of fact, only one team is scheduled to play--the Harvard fencing team, which will be dueling away at the International Fencing Association championships at Columbia University. (I wouldn't even write this except that I know how many of you rely on my column to give you that added uplift on Thursday).
Friday and Saturday night at the Boston Garden the ECAC hockey championships will be played, sans Harvard. But since this column is written weeks in advance, the teams who will be playing in the semi-final games Friday night cannot be divulged. We have narrowed it down to one of eight teams though, ranging from Clarkson in the west, to B.U. in the east, to Providence in the south, and UNH in the north.
After the collegians decide who will go to the NCAA championships, the Celtics and Bruins take over the Boston Garden. Sunday afternoon, the Celts will host the Phoenix Suns, the team that challenged the Celts for the NBA championship last year. Directly following the game, the Garden workers will be busily stripping the hardwood off the ice so that the Bruins can thrash the Los Angeles Kings.
Unfortunately for the Kings, they haven't been getting much ice time at home. The main reason for this is that there is no longer any ice in the Kings' rink. Last week the city ordered that all the ice be melted and the water be used for irrigation. The Kings have had to practice with roller skates, and play all their home games that way.
The Kings haven't lost all hope though. As the result of a question from a 13-year old California listener of Ask the President, President Carter has ordered that all the snow remaining in Buffalo be packed into boxcars and transported to California to alleviate the severe drought. The President also ordered that snow be flown in from Oregon as a temporary measure.
And speaking of television, that's where most of this weekend's big sporting events will be. On Saturday, you'll be able to catch the Aetna World Cup tennis tournament, pitting the best players from the United States against the worst players from lower Silesia and Serbo-Croatia. Actually, they'll be fighting an Australian contingent depleted by a skiing injury to John Newcombe.
At 3:30 p.m. on channel five, the Pro Bowlers Tour will be at Garden City, N.Y. for the AMF Pro Classic. When that excitement is over, you'll have to start preparing for the Lawrence Welk Show, which goes on at 7 p.m. In this episode, Welk tells how each member of his musical family came to his attention. It should be a thrill for musical fans everywhere.
Anyway, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and later.
