Tennis / Lisa Dillman : USC Coach Raps Fans, Wants the NCAA Event Moved Out of Georgia

Coach Dick Leach of USC will be the first to admit that he was the last to know. For years, he said, he fell for what he now calls a con game, orchestrated by smiling, hospitable good ol’ boys, with anything but good intentions in mind.

Every year, the Trojans go to a crap game, known as the NCAA tournament, in the pleasant setting of Athens, Ga., among the dogwoods and French hydrangeas. Every year, the tournament is praised up and down for its efficiency, its large crowds and its hospitality.

Every year, for the last eight seasons, the Trojans have made this traditional pilgrimage. And every year, for those last eight years, USC has lost the crap game.

“They’re only happy if we lose to them every year and then bend over and say, ‘Thank you,’ ” Leach said.

This time, after the previously undefeated Trojans had lost to Georgia in the team semifinals, 5-4, they skipped the thank-you.

The change provoked an angry reaction. Leach and his son, Rick, were denounced in local papers. One headline read, “Leaches must learn to behave.”

Georgia fans, who had already taken a strong dislike to USC, howled even louder when Leach and fellow coaches Allen Fox of Pepperdine, Dennis Ralston of SMU, and Chuck Kriese of Clemson suggested that the NCAA look for another tournament site.

“Being a USC Trojan in Georgia was like being the devil’s cousin,” said Coach Greg Patton of UC Irvine.

Said Leach: “They’ve rubbed me the wrong way, and they’re going to pay for it. They’re going to lose their championship if I have anything to do with it.”

So, one might ask, why does he feel that way?

The most recent defeat hit especially hard because Leach had considered this perhaps his best team ever. Rick Leach chose not to turn pro this season because he wanted to help the Trojans finally reclaim the NCAA title.

Through a 30-0 regular season, the championship looked like a reality. USC won the National Indoor team title and the Blue-Gray team tournament, beating Georgia in Blue-Gray, 5-1.

All that meant nothing in Athens. The rowdy Bulldog fans--chanting “Woof, woof, woof!” and yelling “Choke!” at crucial times--broke USC’s spirit. Leach watched experienced college players come unglued before his eyes.

“You just have to see it to believe it,” Leach said. “I’ve never seen such enthusiasm, or should I say, rudeness, by the fans. At golf tournaments you don’t yell, ‘Hook!’ or ‘Slice!’ or ‘Choke!’ when someone is in the middle of a backswing.

“This is what they do. It’s worse than Davis Cup because at least then, they’re quiet during the points. With the six courts, you’re right in the middle of 6,000 people rising to their feet and they start barking, while someone else is playing.”

“Our players have never played in front of that. And there’s no way to prepare.”

Leach said that his team wasn’t the only one that fell apart. After Pepperdine had lost to Georgia in the quarterfinals, a Wave assistant coach told Leach that No. 1 singles player Andrew Sznajder had quit trying because he was so rattled by the crowd.

Heading into the doubles phase, USC was tied with Georgia, 3-3. Leach even tried screaming at Jonas Wallgard to get him motivated.

“It was like (the players) were drunk or doped,” Leach said. “Their eyes were glassy and they didn’t even hear anything I said. It was almost like they wanted to miss the ball to make the crowd happy.

“It takes a unique personality, like a (Jimmy) Connors or (John) McEnroe to fight that. And even they get beat up in Davis Cup. But these are young kids. They aren’t experienced.”

The final blow--one that pushed Leach to begin a serious crusade to get the tournament out of Athens--came during the individual portion of the tournament. Rick Leach had lost to Furman’s Ned Caswell, and spectators continued to heckle the Leach family as they were trying to leave the complex. Then, Rick exchanged words with a Georgia reserve player, Tim Ruotolo.

Said Rick: “I’ll break this (racket) over your head, man.”

Said Dick: “All Southerners can go to hell.”

A fan replied, “Same to you.”

Then, Rick, who had won numerous sportsmanship awards as a junior and college player, knocked over a newspaper vending machine and stepped on the hood of the fan’s car, waving a racket. “Come on,” he yelled at the fan. “You want me to kill you?”

A USC teammate, Scott Melville, said at the time, “I’ve never seen him like this. He’s lost his marbles.”

Campus police restrained Rick and prevented escalation of the incident. For the rest of the tournament, Rick apologized to the press and, after winning the doubles title with Melville, told the crowd that he had learned from the experience.

Now, Dick Leach regrets that things out got of hand. He says that, without question, the defeat was the most disappointing in his coaching career. To get over the hurt, he is directing his attention to a full-fledged effort at moving the tournament out of Georgia.

It won’t be easy, for there is some support to keep the tournament in Athens. Leach can understand why people like to play there, at least until they play the Bulldogs.

“It’s a giant con game,” he said. “They have sororities assigned to each team. Host families.”

Leach laughed and said: “For teams who have never been there before, it’s great. Friendly, pretty girls. You know what they try to do, they try to take (the players) out the night before the matches and keep them out late. We have a curfew, and some girls were hanging around the first night and we had to tell them to get away.

“We had always gone for everything, hook, line and sinker.”

Now, though, Leach depicts Southerners as skillful con artists.

“Those people down there are two-faced rednecks,” he said. “I had been told this by everybody and refused to believe it.”

Tennis Notes In another development at the NCAA men’s tournament, California’s No. 2 singles player, Woody Hunt of Torrance, was arrested and convicted of possession of marijuana a week ago last Thursday in Athens. Hunt, a sophomore, pleaded no contest, was fined $110. The amount of marijuana he had in his possession was less than an ounce. In the individual singles, Hunt lost to Olivier Lorin of Oklahoma in the first round, 6-4, 6-2.