Pag» 8 Portland Observer Thursday, December 1, 1977.
Grmbliag betting against odds
6
LX
*5
IL
Blazers in action
(Photos by: Jock Rubeck)
Winter Hawks
benefit S.Army
Sports Talk
by Ron Sykee
S ;w ts Editor
“There are no better judges of football
talent than the coaches themselves,’’ said
In spite of an early season injury. AFCA President Eddie Robinson of
Pittsburgh quarterback Matt Cavanaugh Grambling in announcing the winners.
was named by the coaches as the best in Now. Robinson must have made that
the Country.
statement with his tongue in his check.
Cavanaugh not only was injured early, Because if he believes, as he says he does,
but was also ineffective both early and that his quarterback. Doug Williams is a
late. Grambling quarterback Douglas bona fide human candidate, and then say
Williams has been rumored of having a the coaches made the right choice in
chance at the coveted award. By Cava Cavanaugh, then something is mislead
naugh's nod from the coaches, then. I ing.
My belief is simple: if you can't make
think. William's chances are very slim.
Notre Dame placed three players on All-America, then Heisman is out.
this year's Kodak All-America Team
Joining Cavanaugh in the offensive
announced on November 23. 1977 by the backfield are Texas superstar Earl Camp
American Football Coaches Association
bell. who was named to the Kodak team
The fighting Irish are represented by as a sophomore in 1975. the sensational
repeat All-Americans Ken MacAtee and Terry Miller, who holds the State of
Ross Browner, along with defensive Oklahoma 60 yard dash track record with
backfield standout Luther Bradley.
a time of 6.1 seconds, and did a fine 9.6
Ross Browner is considered the best hundred during his senior year in high
defensive lineman in the Country, an school; and Louisiana State's Charles
honor he won hands down last year. Pitts Alexander along with John Jefferson of
burgh also placed tackle Randy Holloway Arizona State round out the backfield.
on the coache's squad.
Phil Banter. 8-7, 185, F r
land Í alifomia
Oak
Dorchester. Maaaachusette«
Meet the new Ducks
Barner arrives at Oregon with impres
sive credentials for a first-year forward
at the college level: his recruiters de
scribe him as having the ability to “shoot
the ball from the outside, put the ball 'on
the floor and drive to the basket." Suffice
it to say, he is expected to add some
firepower to the Kamikaze attack before
his freshman year is over.
He led his team to the mythical
Northern California title, and was named
Most Valuable Player on the All North
ern California team, on his way to prep
All American recognition Made the “top
13“ at the San Diego Superstar Camp,
and was judged one of the five best "big
finesse forwards" in the nation.
He
averaged 18.5 points and 12 rebounds a
game.
Sealey not only hails from the area that
produced the original “Kamikaze Kid,"
Ronnie Lee; he is said to play in a style
reminiscent of the Oregon great at the
same stage of his career. And, believe
me, that's saying something because Lee
made all Par-6 four years running.
Like Lee, he fits one of Coach Harter's
favorite terms: “super competitive”. A
prep All-American, he led his team to a
three year record of 74 7, including a
state title in his junior year.
As a senior, he averaged 24 points. 16
rebounds, six assists and in typical Lee
style...four steals a game
He was
recruited by 300 colleges, and is describ
ed by New Englanders as ranking with
Lee and Holy Cross sophomore, Ron
Perry, as the three top prospects out of
Massachusettes in the past seven years.
Dick Harter has picked a plum
The only team in the late season “top
ten" which failed to place a player on the
Kodak All-America Team is Penn State.
The only player from a team not luted in
the top twenty is Gary Spam of Kansas
State.
From tackle to tackle, the defense
averages 6-5. 249. The offense is heavier
(257), but an inch shorter.
All American capital of the World? Try
Warren. Ohio, they have two players.
Ross Browner and Aaron Brown, listing
Warren as their hometown.
And didn't the Lakers look terrible,
disorganized, and not really doing a thing
Sunday night against our Blazers. Is this
the same team that established the best
over-all record in the NBA last year, of
course not, because we all know that
Kareem is injured and they can't pos
sibly be as strong without him. But
they're hurting bad at the power forward
position.
James Edwards. ex-Husky
center is filling in admirably at center,
and Chris Ford. Laker power forward,
leaves a good deal to be desired.
Just gotta’ believe owner Jack Hent
Cooke made one big mistake by not going
after Sidney Wicks, how he could help the
Lakers.
Where have all the turnovers gone?
Some will say they left with Sidney
Wicks. If you believe that then the
Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa
Claus are all within your realm of reality.
In all actuality the turnovers still remain,
only the publicity is gone.
It seems that a couple years ago we
read continuously of the Blazer turnovers
and most were a blatant attack on our
power forward.
Some, now, will agree that turnovers
are misleading; and that if a player has no
turnovers then he's not really doing
anything, not assertive enough. Now, is
this to mean that our power forward of a
couple of years past was super-assertive,
or was it just bad hands that caused all of
those much publicized miscues.
Does Bill Walton have bad hands? The
answer to that is “no, absolutely not."
But, then, looking at Blazer stats we find
Walton as the team leader in that
department. Walton has played 18 games
and has a team leading 66 turnovers,
which averages out to 3.62 a game. And if
these figures were kept in NBA stats
they would be league leading or close.
Now, we understand that Walton is as
good as they come, playing the middle.
Again not knocking the big red head, just
wondering what happened to the turn
over publicity' now that Super Sid is
gone
The Portland Winter Hawks will honor
The Salvation Army at a benefit game on
Saturday. December 3, 1977. Children of
twelve years of age and under, when
accompanied by an adult, will be admit
ted with the donation of two items of
canned or packaged food Game time is
7:30 p.m.
The Winter Hawks vs. Seattle Break
era game will receive a prelude of
Christmas music as The Salvation Army
brass band plays in the lobby of the
Memorial Coliseum prior to game time
Accompanied by timbrelists from the
Greater Portland Metropolitan area, the
band will divide during the period breaks
and play in the two end concouraes of the
Coliseum Bandmaster Mike Verbout,
who during the week is Music Specialist
for the Portland Public Schools, is the
Portland Tabernacle Bandmaster and
Music Advisor for the Cascade Division.
The contribution of canned and pack
aged food items will be used by The
Salvation Army to benefit needy families
and individuals at Christmas time with
Christmas dinners and throughout the
year for emergency relief assistance.
is to Catholic America."
Eddie Robinson, fourth on the list of
all time coaching winners behind Stagg
and Warner and Bryant, '» tl*
reason
Grambling has made it.
Nicholson, the trumpeter. Grambling's
Gabriel to the fourth estate, is another.
“And we're poor people. 1 went to
Grambling from a saw mill." Nicholson
says. "Eddie was working in a feed mill.*'
All before Douglas Williams and the
Heisman dream were born.
And what really are the chances?
Can a Grambling Tiger compete in the
voting booth with a Texas Longhorn?
Nicholson thinks he can, further he
plana to see to it that it happens. Maybe
he hasn't stopped to calculate the
chances
“The Heisman trophy winner should be
clearly the best at what he does. Last
year, Tony Dorsett was clearly the best.
But this year not 20 yards separate the
four rushers. Douglas leads the nation in
total offense I in Grambling's first year in
Division I) and he's passed John Reaves
in yardage, 7,561 to 7,549.
“Now those who say that Douglas
hasn’t faced the best competition forget
one thing. The majority of the comer
backs in the NFL are from our conference
(the Southwestern Athletic Conference)
or from the MEAC or the CIAA. And
those are the fellows Douglas is throwing
against.
“A Black quarterback in the NFL?
There has to be a change in that thinking,
too. because a lot of the best quarter
backs at so-called white schools now are
Black"
Collie Nicholson can go on and on. And
does.
What if Douglas Williams does upset
Earl Campbell and the odds? Wouldn't
that be the greatest thing that ever
happened to a sports information director
at Grambling.
“I don't know about that. Setting up a
aeries of games in Japan was awfully
important. I think.
“If Douglas makes it, though, it won't
be because of Collie Nicholson. It will be
because of Douglas and because of Eddie
Robinson.
“It would be a major accomplishment,
all right, but it would be an accomplish
ment for those men and for Black college
playing football."
The trumpeter comes equipped with a
mute.
See This Today!
fam o u s,
to p -q u a lity
Whirlpool
BIG VALUE RANGE
Recessed
Spillguard* top
EOP accepts
new students
For the first time, Portland State Uni
veraity's Educational Opportunity Pro
gram is accepting new students for
winter term. New students were pre
viously admitted only in the fall.
The EOP program offers tutorial and
counseling services, special classes in
reading, writing and communications,
skill development workshops, and finan
cial aids for students who might not be
able to make it in college otherwise,
academically or financially.
To be accepted to the program, stu
dents must first be admitted to the
University, and must demonstrate a need
for the special services the program
provides.
Although students can be admitted to
the program as late as January 31st,
early application is urged since the
number of students to be admitted is
limited, and since an orientation for the
new students is scheduled for December
1st.
The joints have nothing to
do w ith "double-jointed-
ness." Actually it's the liga
m e n ts t h a t a re lo o s e .
“No man does an yth in g
from a tin g le m o tiv e .
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Am erican State B ank
2737 N .t Union
NORFOLK, VA. - First, there was
Tank Younger. Then Grambling gave the
National Football League the Willies..
Davis and Brown.
And soon the trickle became a stream,
then a river of talent.
“Football players at Black schools were
inviaible as far as the NFL was concern
ed.” Collie Nicholson was saying. “Until
Gram bling.”
More than 160 Grambling graduates
have played in the NFL now.
“And we only count the one who
actually played, not those who just had
tryouts." Nicholson emphasizes.
Next in the line will be Doug Williams,
a 6-4, 214 pound quarterback from Baton
Rouge. Louisiana, who already has shat
te n d every intercollegiate passing re
cord imaginable.
Only Williams. Grambling sports in
formation director Nicholson hopes, will
stop off and pick up the Heisman Trophy
en route to the NFL. The Heisman is
annually presented by New York's Down
town Athletic Club to college football's
outstanding player.
In the ballot box, Williams will be
locked in mortal combat with such not
ablea as Earl Campbell of Texas.
If Williams wins, it will be a first, not
for a Black player, of course, but far a
Black player from a Black school. From
the talent source that no longer is
inviaible.
“I've been so busy trying to make it
happen, talking to writers and TV people,
that I haven't had a chance to figure
Douglas' chances," hedges Nicholson
when you ask for a percentage estimate
of his candidate's chances for election.
And Doug Williams, proud and confi
dent and at the same time shy and
humble, says. “I’m not campaigning. All I
do is play "
But Nicholson is emphatic on how far
coach Eddie Robinson and Grambling
football have come in 30 years.
Today. Grambling is known from Yan
kee Stadium in New York to Korakuen
Stadium in Tokyo.
Callie Nicholson
vividly remembers the first trip from
Grambling. Louisiana, to Morgan State in
Baltimore.
“We traveled by bus. and I was in the
back, sitting on the uniforms."
He still feels every bump.
“Twenty y ea n later, we sold out
Yankee Stadium with Morgan And now
we're to Black America what Notre Dame
212-2216
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