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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1978)
Page 6 Portland Observer Thursday. August 24. 1978 Boys dob SPORTS HOUR sports begin Boys’ Clubs o f Portland, a United Way Agency, announces sign-up op portunities fo r its fa ll athletic programs for Portland are« grade school boys seven through fourteen years o f age, starting August 21st. Programs in flag football, tackle football and soccer w ill be conducted at the three Portland locations. Boys’ may register daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Pal Boys’ Club, 9330 S.E. Harold Street; the C olum bia Boys’ C lub, 7602 N. Emerald at Lom bard; and the Sellw ood-M oreland Boys* C lub, 8210 S.E. 13th Avenue. Practice and c o n d itio n in g fo r football w ill start August 29th and soccer practice w ill start on August 29th. Additional inform ation on these and other Boys’ Club programs may be secured by dropping into one of the three b u ild in g centers or by calling 775-1549. President Carter and baseball great Henry " H a n k " Aaron met recently to talk over old times and future challenges in a session at the White House Aaron — sometimes called "T he H am m er" — was slugging home runs for the Atlanta Braves while the President was serving as Governor of Georgia JOE’S PLACE ,801 N .I. Alberta WILL _ „ OPTOMETRIST SA YS: “I Care about Your Eye Care” Portland fans analyzed by Ron Sykes Sports Editor Following the Blazers rise to the top in the 1976-77 NBA playoffs there were numerous writings con cerning the Portland team. It seems that everyone was caught up in Blazermania and more often than not there were enterprising groups and individuals waiting to capitalize on the wonderful feats achieved by our town’s spectacular team. Jack Ramsey, the marvelous Trailblazer coach; Hany Glickman, the illustrous General Manager; and the little known Larry Colton; all ran forward with books to describe to us just what made Blazermania w ork. Perhaps the best was w ritten by Colton, a one-time teacher at Adams High and ex-professional baseball pitcher Colton logged many miles with the team to accumulate some most interesting data. Maurice Lucas, Blazer strong for ward is among C olton’ s favorites and would like to share some o f Colton’s enthusiasm for Lucas with my readers. “ Welcome to MacLaren School, Maurice,” said a middle-aged man, stepping out from the group. “ We appreciate your coming today.” MacLaren School was the last of eighteen sessions in the Maurice Lucas Summer Youth Involvement Clinics sponsored by the Portland Park Bureau. Located near Wood burn, 45 minutes south o f Portland. Lucas is known around the NBA as a "bad dude” thus earning the nickname “ e n fo rce r.” “ Sonny H ill,” Lucas began, “ talked to you guys earlier today about the concept o f reachback, where one person reaches out to help another. That is GREYHOUND RACING IS FUN... YOU CAN B E TO N IT! TONIGHTAT Luxurious Dining on 4th Door Club Skyview Air Conditioned Buffet Dirung on 3rd floor Fairview Terrace Post time 7 30 p m Monday thru Saturday For information and reservations ___________ call 665 2191 Sorry no Sunday racing and no children _______________ under 12 At Fairview Park NE 223rd and Halsey St east out Freeway Banfteld (I 80N) MULTNOMAH K E N N e ic iu e what I am trying to do. I consider you guys here at this place (MacLaren) to be a part o f me. You have a future, and I want to do what I can to help you.” He (Lucas) continued to pace in front o f the bleachers. He looked directly at the audience. “ You might as well learn something right now,” he said forcefully. “ You can’ t beat the system. They pay people money to figure out ways to keep people like you fro m beating the system. They’ ve got it set up so you can’t beat it. “ You can’ t do things in life w ithout thinking them out in ad vance. I f you’re going to steal a car, think o f the punishment. Is it worth a couple o f years o f your life in a joint like this.” Maurice, goes on to explain to his young captive audience on how to make it on the outside. “ Now my brother, my elder brother just completed an eight year prison term. You guys have got to get yourselves together, or that is what your future will be.” Maurice went on to describe his brother as a cold man, a man that could outslick anybody. Colton’s book is worth reading. It gives an in-depth look at the team as individuals. He was present with the team on the road, at parties, in bars, and alone in their rooms. About the author: Larry Colton is 35 years old. married, two daughters — Sarah two and Wendy eleven. Colton was a former baseball player spending 1965-1970 as a pitcher with the Eugene Emeralds, Macon Peaches, San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies. Colton lists his boyhood idols as Mickey Mantle, J .F .K ., supported Eugene M c Carthy, and the Beatles. Now it’s the Blazers. by B ill Schaefer I f you’ re a psychology student planning to write a thesis o- collec tive human behavior, t r to figure out what makes P o rtla n d ’ s professional sports fans tick. That would be a subject worthy o f Freud. Just consider. The P ortland Trailblazers, in an act o f arrogance seldom matched in professional sports, brazenly boosted the price o f tickets for the coming season after standing room only crowds filled every corner o f the Coliseum for last season’ s 41 home games. But was there a public outcry? Certainly not. There was not even a whimper. Then we are advised, through a series o f incredible inconsistencies, that Bill Walton would prefer to play his trade in a city other than Port land. We are asked to swallow, on the one hand, the fantasy that money is not the issue, but when dollars are discussed we are told that whoever wants W alton’s services had better begin at the $800,000 a year figure David Thompson is reportedly earn ing at Denver. W alton’ s reason for wanting to leave, we’ve been told, is his disen chantment with the Blazers’ medical practices — specifically, the team's alleged indifference to administering pain-killing drugs to its players. But according to a former member o f the Golden State W arriors, the team Walton now says he wants to play for, injections have been given there, too. The rationale fo r a ll this, W a lto n ’ s agent says, is that the procedure is management policy in Portland whereas other teams’ in volvement is on an exceptional basis. And, believe it or not, the fans in Portland are buying all this. A t least, disillusionment has not yet set in at the box o ffic e where sales are booming again. Now, let’s look at the case o f the Portland Timbers. For two seasons prior to 1978, the Timbers labored hard but unsuccessfully and finished YOU FOR ONLY 1 5 t Day»: Sat, Sun., RMon. 2 ®B-B768 For more Information Aaron visited the President to discuss a coming visit to the Dom inican Republic. President Carter appointed Aaron as part of a delegation to represent the United States at the inauguration ceremonies for Silvestre A n tonio Guzman Fernandez as President of that nation. (White House Photograph) Sport Talk DRAFT among the N ASL’s also-rans. But this year owner Keith Williams and coach Don Megson have, almost miraculously, fashioned an outstand ing team, a bona fide title contender that advanced to the National Con ference playoff series. And what about the Timbers fans? They firs t showed th e ir ap preciation by staying away. Crowds o f 8,500 and 10,000 showed up, even with a winning team. About 16,000 came to see the Seattle Rose Festival game and almost 24,000 paid their way in to see the Vancouver game late last month. Then a controversy exploded over d is trib u tio n o f money fro m the playoffs. The fans thought that playoff money goes directly to the clubs to be shared with the players, a procedure followed in most other professional sports. But in the N ASL a ll p la y o ff revenue is pooled. After all expenses are taken care of, bonuses are paid to those players participating in d if ferent levels o f the playoffs. This the Portland fans didn’ t like. "M y mail clearly told me the fans were upset with the club and me per s o n a lly,” W illia m s said. “ They visualized that the club was taking all the money and not sharing it with the players. They said they would not support the club and the playoffs. They were very verbal about it. It’s too bad. They missed some great soccer.” Still, the patient Williams refused to panic over the attendance problem, even though the Timbers enjoyed a better gate last season than this one. “ I t ’ll come eventually,” Williams said. “ I feel it was all a misunder standing and the fans w ill eventually support a winner. And we think we’re well on the way to establishing a winning tradition.” Maybe. A t least the Tim bers deserve a better breed o f fan than they’ re getting while the Blazers are lucking out on loyalty. It’ s like the man said. There ain’ t no justice. TOOK PRECIOUS VISION... Deserves the finest of O ptom etric Core! Here a t SEMLER'S your Eyes receive Professional Examination . . , Precision Ground Lenses plus Expert Fitting for ’’Personality" Frames. feme In At Yeetr (ewpetdeere N O APPOINTMENT NEEDED M edicare A L ib e r a l S e m le r CREDIT Phone 2 2 7 - 7 2 0 0 of/.r«aiw in MUM. BUCERII RISEI. M U Weltome l ARRY_ correlation between crime and the conditions under which people must live and that crime is a natural result o f the social, economic and political system o f this nation. 2) Call on Congress for a policy of full unemployment. There is a direct correlation between unemployment and juvenile crime, property crimes, homocides and imprisonment. S h W í ÍÍ t O ptometrists OPTICAL Office« D O W N TO W N S.W. 3RD A YAMHILL PORTLAND A u u c iu t r b o r t o r t o f O ptum elrv - P O R T L A N D M . IA M T M M U I - M . M. U l l t - M . I . HUU ML I. U M T • In Ot*.. KMUB I tf lt m , 3) Call for safe, decent, sanitary nousing for all and a federal policy o f home ownership. Crime is a result o f poor housing, overcrowding and the social problems related to housing. The cities must be rebuilt. 4) The total welfare must be con sidered. The nation must develop a policy that w ill provide adequate health care as a right. 5) Funds must be provided for research and treatment of alcohol and drug addiction. A diplomatic ef fort must be made to stop the flow of drugs into this country. There is a high correlation between drug use and property crimes and between alcohol use and crimes o f violence. 6) The manufacture, import, sale and possession o f hand guns should Brown added that the solution to crime, considered by many citizens to be the nations’ most serious problem, calls for a concentrated ef fort by all of society to Eradicate the root causes o f crime. Z .r l.J . M . M. W IM — ML I. MAOaST AOT SPECIAL PURCHASE h o m e f u r n is h in g s frigidaire BUDGET 30" RANGE Enjoy the cooking capacity of a 23" wide oven and the convenience of an oven door that lifts up and out of the way for easy cleaning. Easy-View surface controls. Full-width bottom storage drawer for utensils. be illegal. Hand guns in homes are six times more like ly to be used against family members than against possible burglers. 7) TV violence has been demon strated to increase aggressive behavior in children and should be controlled. 8) Children are leaving school un prepared, unskilled, uneducated and relegated to a sub-class o f unem ployment and despair. A federal policy is needed to address the education system where too many youth drop out or are kicked out of school. 9) W hite collar crime must be recognized and dealt with. Consumer fraud and price fixing place a heavy load on the poor. 10) Major reforms arc needed in L E A M to provide research and demonstration projects. PARK TR EE DR I Brown asks attention to causes of crime (Continued from Page 1 Column 6) Brown said there is a need to look at policy implications, the criminal justice system is assigned the job o f controlling crime but cannot do the job alone. Citizen involvement is necessary to make crime prevention the first priority. Brown advocates p utting the greatest e ffo rt in to preventing juvenile delinquency — preventing the involvement o f juveniles in the criminal justice system, reintegrating offenders into the community since the more involvement a youth has with the justice system the more apt he is to remain involved in crime. Public agencies should improvise the delivery o f services. There is evidence that the crime rate is high among those who have inadequate services. There is a high correlation between crime and yobs and between crime and poverty. Brown asked the Am erican Correctional Association to present the following agenda to President Carter, 1) The President should provide federal leadership with a message on crime. He should point out the ___ BABY TERMS . we give you more . . . w ith trade ¡3 0 1 home furnishings 30th and S.E. Division 234-9351 Shop 9 to 0 Tuesday thru Friday Saturday 9 to 6 (Closed Sunday and M onday)
