DREAM ON
Documentary
tells the story
of two young
basketball
players
Whether you re a sports tan
or a fiim aficionado, on®
thing is for certain about
the basketball documen
tary Hoop Or earns it's
nothing but net
And we re not talking about no
cheap lay >n This is a 3€0 degree
tomahawk lam-m-your-face type of
t‘im. and it commands respect i-ke
Hoop Dreams
Arthur Agee, and William Cates
Dinetpr Steve Jbmes
Raird R
Michael Jordan and
the rock with three
seconds on the clock
Rut don t let the tide ot
the? film or my
metaphor tool you
Hoop Dreams extends
tar beyond the realm
of mere athletics it is
a tale ot human
drama, sacrifice and
family A gntty story
Story by
Greg Hamilton
that grabs a noul or reality and
squeezes from it the quiet moments
as well as the cheers
Filmed over the course ot live
years. Hoop Dreams follows the
lives of two young black men and
their families, who deal with success
and failure within the Chicago pro
tects
Pegged as roundbali prodigies in
elementary school, Arthur Agee and
William Gates are shadowed by the
camera throughout a crucial time in
their young lives Basketball is the
dream that connects them both, but
the realities and similarities of their
separate lives are the heart of this
film
Hoop Dreams begins with Agee
and Gates being "recruited" into the
prestigious basketball program at
St Joeseph's High School St Joe’s
is a magnet for young urban talent
with its high media visibility and
famous alumni (which includes for
mer Detroit Piston Isaiah Thomas),
but it's also a world away from the
urban decay of Chicago's innercity
With its predominantly white student
body and suburban socioeconomic
culture, the gap between the haves
and have nots is painful
The basketball program at St
Joe's is also brutal in many ways
Although it prides itself on compel;
tiveness. the program subtly troats
its urban recruits like acquired prop
erties, lording its status and athletic
"responsibilities' over them at times
Those who live up to the expecta
tions as players are rewarded with
outside aid and 'preferential' acad
omc treatment Those who fail, or
mature slower than expected are
'let go' and left to fend for them
selves
The message is clear
Succeed or die
During the course of events, one
mem
Forget the trial, and bring back soap operas
There is this teal going on right
now Perhaps you know the
one t won t say who i$ involved
because my editor has forbid
den me to Let me just say that
this certain trial is broadcast on TV ait
day. preempting regularly scheduled
programs Namely, soap operas In
particular, ABC'S All My Children
Freshman year my roommate in the
dorms introduced me to All My
Children We met every afternoon m
the basement ol our dorm Since I
hadn't watched it much, C>sa spent
most ot the time tilling me m on the
characters and the history ol the
show She had me hooked
Ever since then, I watch All My
Children when I can. and I tape it.
and watch it later, when l can t l look
forward to watching it It is my treat at
the end ot the day And when this
silty trial is on instead, it makes me a
little mad But I'm not the only one
People are crazy about soap
operas And when their soap operas
am cancelled, they
do cra/y things
When the pretnai
was broadcast a
tew months ago,
soap tans flooded
abc; with cans
Gmeral Hospital
was !> • ) sfx:>*'•
TRISTA during the noon
NOEL hour, which is the
i88*8®iw«s»s«sss9 time Ail My
Children t$ on Peopie were upset
because nor only was General
Hospital be mg shown in AMCs spot,
but no on® knew why that decision
had been made
So now. as the trial begins again,
ABC has created Soap Line There is
a special reporter who is supposed
to keep viewers up to date on how
the trial will affect the programming of
ABC soap operas
So far, she hasm done much good
I turned my TV on at noon the other
day, hoping All My Children would be
on Instead. I had my first glimpse ol
the Soap Une reporter in action
It war, tine tor All My Children, but
alt she said was that General Hospital
would he airing soon Alter alt the
commercial breaks it was almost
12 15. and the reporter said she
would give an update o! what we had
trussed on General Hospital so far
She also ioid us that she had been
watching it lor us, but she read Ihe
updale off ot cue cards Sorry, but
soaps aren t so complicated Ihat you
need to write down what has hap
pened to remember The show had
only been on tor 10 minutes, what
could have happened in that amount
ol time that she couldn't remember'?
She never mentioned why All My
Children wasn't on She doesn't offer
any information This Soap Line is
worthless, and soap fans are still m
the dark about what's happening
Tnsta Noel is the entertainment editor
of the Emerald
comma v photo
William Gates is one of the two basketball players whose life is documented In the film Hoop Dreams.
of them succeed and ends up
being 'sponsored' by a white a km
m tamiiy The other ts forced to
leave for 'financial reasons' that are
more closely related to his inability
to adapt and play ball in alien sur
roundings
its an ugly game of survival that
leaves an indelible stain upon the
punty of the sport a ‘game' that
even m its mlant stages revolves
around money
It s a harsh truth that even the
youngest of players seems to under
stand In order to improve your tis
cal surroundings, you must learn to
lump through hoop;., as well as tie
Turn to HOOPS, Page 8
Campus
Dreams
Oregon lht\kriball
players Kenya
Wilfeim and Henry
Madden share ihetr
opinions of the mow
Hch>p Dreams
—Pageti
Weaver, Kingsley
star in film abnnt
justice, tnrtere
Death and the Maiden is
She story ot a woman wt>o
makes captive the man
she believes was respon
sible for torturing her in a
South American prison
years ago How far will she
go to settle the score7