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Lights, camera, action... Olczyk's star shines, but he seeks Improvement By Chris Juzwlk Herald News Service JOHNSBURG - Scene: Hollywood movie mogul lounges in his office, seeking a movie idea. Scriptwriter enters. "Picture this E.B. Here's a great one. "Kid is born. Grows up loving hockey -- can't live without it, right? Is a junior hockey superstar for a Canadian junior 4B' hockey team. 'Gotta see this . kid,' the scouts say. Gets picked to play on the United States Olympic team at age 17. Gets selected in the first round of the National Hockey League draft by his hometown team -- say, the Chicago Black Hawks -- for the Midwestern effect. Scores a goodly amount of goals and a bunch of assists in his rookie season, leading the team to the Campbell Conference finals before succumbing to eventual Stanley Cup champ Edmonton." "Whew. An intense script, alright," mogul says. "But best of all," scriptwriter relays, "the subtitle of this box office bonanza would read: 'A True Story."' This story is Ed Olczyk's story. Thus far, it has been a happy one. But the Hawks' right wing knows the ending has yet to be written. Far from it, in fact. "It was an exciting year, all right," the poised, polite Olczyk said Monday during an appearance at the Red Cloud Golf Outing at Chapel Hill Golf Club in Johnsburg. "I was happy to be a part of it all. But we've got some work to do." Olczyk played in 70 of the Black Hawks' 80 regular-season games, scoring 20 goals and assisting on 30 more for 50 total points. "Twenty and 30 were pretty good numbers. There were a lot of times where I didn't have good control of the puck, or I'd deke out the goalie and miss the open net, or the goalie would make a good save on me. But I hope to play better next year, get some more ice time. "I don't know if it was so much the difficulty of adjusting to the Edmonton bombed the battered and bruised Hawks in the opening two games of the series in Northlands Coliseum, but Chicago came back to knot the duel with two stirring wins at the Chicago Stadium, before bowing out in games five and six. The Oilers then cruised past Philadelphia 4-1 to win the Cup. "I think it says a lot about our team that we hung in there against Edmonton," Olczyk saitf. "Our team has a lot of character. We just needed to beat them once, and once we did that, it was a real "I don't know if it was so much the difficultly ol adjusting... 1 think I justputtoomucbpressureonmyseif. It was tough enough, cominginas thebometownkid. A lot was expected of me." Ed Olczyk NHL, really," Olczyk explained. "I think I just put way too much pressure on myself. It was tough enough for me coming in as the hometown kid, with my family and friends watching all the time. A lot was expected of me." The Hawks swept past hapless Detroit, 3-0, in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and then handled the rugged Minnesota North Stars by a 4-2 margin. Then came the defending champion Oilers, led by the inimitable Wayne Gretzky and the uncanny play of Jarri Kurri, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey. confidence builder for us. We could have laid down and died after being down 2-0, but we didn't. "I think we're good enough to handle Edmonton at this point," Olczyk said confidently. "We've improved ourselves in the draft with some good college players. We had an exciting year, sure. But we want to move up and beat them." Olczyk and his mates will attempt to take the giant step past Edmonton with Bob Pulford pulling the strings. Pulford, who doubles as the Hawks' general manager, took over for deposed head coach Orval Tessier in February. Pulford and assistants Roger Neilson and Cliff Koroll recently signed to lead the Black Hawks again in 1965. "It's great that Pully's coming back," Olczyk said. "And Roger and Cliff too. They all work so well together, and the players really get along well with them. That's a big plus for us." Olczyk's rookie season, which included six playoff goals, is behind him. And that's where he wants to keep it. "I hope to have a better year next year, for sure," he said. "I want to get more ice time, and hopefully play with more confidence. If I can do that, the coaches will be more confident in me. That's my goal. Am I ready? Yep. I've been ready. I'm ready to go tomorrow. "Everything has worked out. It's really been a dream come true forme." I Hollywood mogul kicks back, ponders. "Good story, babe. But ... I don't know, it lacks, ya know? Let's move it 20 years down the road or so. The kid grows up, leads his team to a handful of Stanley Cup titles, wins a few Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player,, and is a Hall of Fame candidate. Now that's a good flick." The only thing is, in Ed Olczyk's case, it's not a true one. Not yet, anyway. Friday, July 12,1985 Tricks are the treat with Longo By Mart Meyer Herald News Service JOHNSBURG -- Peter Longo has about everything you wouldn't ex­ pect to find in a golf bag.. .that is, if you were considering a normal round of 18 holes. "Normal," however, doesn't fit into Longo's vocabulary. A trick shot artist by day, Longo has made a living by making the unusual and absurd look good. "I'm doing this because I failed at everything else," he said with a smile prior to the Red Cloud Golf Outing Monday afternoon at Chapel Hill Golf Club. "I wanted very badly to make it on the (PGA) tour, but I couldn't do it." Longo spent one year (1974) and a couple months (1978) hacking away with the big boys until he landed an an assistant's position at Rolling Green Country Club in Arlington Heights. And it was there at Rolling Green that Longo developed a knack for the out-of-the-ordinary. "It happened by accident," Longo said of his beginning in the world of golf shot trickery. "I wanted to spice up the lessons a little and make things interesting for the members. "Because I was doing a lot of teaching (at the club), I had some time to work on different stances and different swings. Things you wouldn't expect to see from your average golfer." Longo's mere toying with the idea came to a halt in 1979 when he staged his first full show. After that, the joking became a full-time act. "There's a certain amount of practicing that's involved," said Longo, who runs both radio and cable television golf shows in his hometown of Phoenix, Ariz., "but one of the main things that you have to concentrate on is trying to keep the (trick) shows different. You don't want to have someone see the same show twice. "So you work on new tricks and new approaches. The name of the game is to please the people, try and make them laugh and have a good time. "Nowadays, a lot of corporate outings are trying to mix entertain­ ment with their golf -- and that's where a guy like myself comes into play." And play he did. Longo performed a variety of tricks with an assort­ ment of clubs, using everything from 36-inch tees to shafts con­ structed from buggy whips and rub­ ber hoses. He knelt, sat and stooped. He hit shots from every imaginable posi­ tion and made the whole thing look terribly easy. It didn't faze him that some of the clubs were fitted with beer cans and telephone receivers. Tee it up and smash it down the fairway. All in a day's work, right Pete? "It's not as easy as it looks," Longo said. "I practice about three hours a day, and that's not as much Inside.. • Youth League standings Page 10 t Maxson wins 1st feature Page 1 11 Golf league results Page 10 time as I'd like, i - "The key it that I really enjoy what I'm doing. I've always wanted to be around the game of golf, and right now this (performing trick shot shows) is the way to do it. "I prefer outings such as Red Cloud, because they're associated with sports people. It was through these types of outings that I got my start, and I really enjoy coming back year after year." No matter what the size of the audience, Longo said the show re­ mains basically the same. "It's funny," he recalled, "I can remember being very nervous in front of small groups of 20 as well as large crowds of 2,000. "The amount of people has no bearing on my attitude toward a show; but the running joke is that I can only perform on videotape as opposed to performing live." ' However, you'd never know it from Monday afternoon's show. A trick here and a joke there, a laugh here and a poke there. No foolin', Pete Longo has finally found himself a niche in the golf world. -x:,. M <»<# Herald photo by Jerome J. Edler ding putting stance In the world, but there's no doubting hit play on the ice. The Hawks' winger, who scored 20 goals as a rookie, made an ap­ pearance at the Red Cloud Golf Open at Chapel Hill Monday. Herald photo by Jerome J. Edler Trick shot artist Peter Longo gets set to take a whack at the golf balls on his high tees. Longo, one of the world's top trick shot kings, did his act at Chapel Hill Monday afternoon. Roberts bags JHS grid post Herald photo by Amy K. Brown McHenry Travelers' batter Kim Smith follows through on her swing Thursday night during a battle against Cary. The two teams first finish­ ed a postponed game before playing the regularly-scheduled contest at West Campus. The games were not completed at press time. Details In next Wednesday's edition. By Chris Juzwik Herald News Service JOHNSBURG -- They thought, they pondered, they mused. But in the end, the choice was as easy as saying "promotion." Johnsburg High School and Johns- burg's District 12 School Board Tuesday night named former JHS assistant Mike Roberts to succeed Randy Oberembt as head football coach. Oberembt resigned last week to take the head job at his alma mater, Knox College in Galesburg. Bill Hurckes will be Roberts' main assistant, moving up from his previous duties as head sophomore coach. Roberts was Oberembt's top aide, and is also the Skyhawks' head wrestling coach. "I'm obviously very, very hap­ py," Roberts said Thursday after­ noon. "It's been my goal for a long, longtime. "The community is losing a great coach and educator, and I'm losing a great friend in Randy," said Rob­ erts. "But it was a super opportuni­ ty for. him, and likewise a great opportunity for me." Roberts was born and raised in Johnsburg, graduating from Mc­ Henry High School in 1975. He was an offensive guard for four years at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wis., where he captained the team in his junior and senior seasons. Roberts was also named to the D- lini-Badger all-conference team his sophomore year. "My program will be very much the same as Randy's was," Roberts said. "You'll notice some defensive changes, but those ""were being drawn up before Randy left.' "Randy was such a tremendous coach because he used input from all of his assistants, and I'll try to do the same. There won't be a lot of changes. Bill will take over as offen­ sive coordinator, and I'll still handle the defense. We'll have to sit down and discuss our philosophies, but things will work out. Bill has been a tremendous part of the program. "Yes, my mind's been going cra­ zy. Ever since Randy left, things have happened so quickly. Randy has left a very solid program be­ hind. We have a lot of good kids, and it's a very respectable pro­ gram. I look to have a good year. We won't be an overpowering team, but if we win the close games, we could do pretty well. We're very optimistic, and ready to go," Rob­ erts bubbled. Could the hometown boy have de­ vised a more rosy future when he was a high school gridder? "If you would have told me this would happen when I was in high school, I couldn't have imagined a better scenario. I'm looking for­ ward to a long, long career here. It's a real dream come true, no doubt about it." J