Ross Jones is unique in the world of sports.
The sensational 19-year-old property of the Detroit Olympics leads not one, but two leagues in scoring.
He tops the professional National Lacrosse Association with 10 goals in five games, and the Junior A Ontario Lacrosse Association with 19 goals in five games.
Jones is eligible to play seven more games in the NLA under the league’s amateur-tryout rules. His full-time club is the Oshawa Green Gaels, a Detroit affiliate.
“If I were to compare Jones to athlete of other sports, I’d say that he’s more relevant to the game of lacrosse than Bobby Orr is to hockey,” said Detroit’s general manager and coach Jim Bishop.
“Jones is one of the most finely conditioned athletes I’ve ever seen. He practices two hours every day with the Green Gaels, then goes two more hours with the Olympics. He is completely dedicated to the game.”
Jones will not be available to Detroit on a regular basis until 1970. NLA rules state that a player must be 21 years old before Jan. 1 to sign a pro contract for the coming season. Jones will not turn 21 until June 5, 1969.
Jones’ scoring prowess was in full gear last weekend. He scored four goals as the Olympics defeated Montreal 22-16 on Sunday. The following night he returned to Oshawa and led the Green Gaels to a 21-3 victory over the Mimico Mounties of the OLA by scoring seven goals and assisting on five others for 12 points.
He will use up one more of his valuable NLA games on Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Olympia in spite of sporting a badly bruised hand. Jones injured the hand in the Olympics first defeat of the season at Toronto, 13-12, on Wednesday. Doctors first feared that the hand was broken, but x-rays proved negative.
(Detroit American, May 26, 1968)