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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1979)
Pao*S Portland Observar Thursday. Juna 7.1*7* i W ith another Olympiad quickly approaching, let’s go back to yester year and share a “ blast from the past" with one o f America's finest athletes, Jesse Owens Let’ s set the scenario: It was ,936. in Berlin’ s Reich Sports Stadium, I IO.OOT' jammed the field including the Emperor, Adolph Hiller. History tells us that Owens, Ohio State’s pride and joy, emerged from the 1936 Olympics the winner o f four Gold Medals. He was first in the 100 meters in a fantastic time of 10.3. And remember Owens never had the luxury o f starting blocks. In Jesse’ s day they simply dug two holes and got down. Owens barely headed out Ralph Met calfe for his second Gold in the 200 meters, as he had in the 100 meters. His time was oustanding for those days — 20.3. Believe me Jesse Owens could “ get down” like nobody else. What made Owens great? Owens was a classic- runner. The Buckeye flash was per fect. His start was perfect, his in between running was perfect and his finish was perfect. Jesse ran effortlessly with that special fluidity as only he possessed. Blacks have made tremendous gains in sports today but still things aren’ t ideal for our athletes o f color. So you can easily imagine the fru stra tio n s encountered by our brothers in the 1930’ s. The broadjump was one o f the most dramatic events o f the entire day, surprising as that may sound! Now see if you can believe what follows. It started with a bang, and ended the same way. The jumpers had to meet the stan dard qualifying distance o f 23 feet 5 inches to qualify. It was reported that Owens strolled over to the runway and, still in his sweats, raced to the pit and ran right through, a customary warm-up procedure. But the red flag was waved much to Owen’ s chargrin. On the next attempt Owens sped down the runway, and to be doubley sure he hit the board squarely in the mid dle and sailed out some 23 feet through the air. Again the red flag was waved fo r some mysterious reason. Now Owens was down to his last attem pt. The situation was becoming disastrous by this time. One more foul and his hopes were shot. win at home and did. Hey. Seattle did party. They had streets jammed while fans whooped it up in parked cars, or slow-moving vehicles. We expected to see a crowd in the Black com m unity s im ila r to Geneva’s, but it never materialized. Seattle’ s Black com m unity couldn't have cared less whether the Sonic’s won or not. Now there’s talk o f the Sonic’s building a dynasty because o f their youth. Beware Seattle! History has shown us that N BA cham pions rarely repeat. ! .. Owens paused at the end o f the runway. Rocked back and fo rth several times, then sprinted down the runw ay. This tim e when he ap proached the take-off board he start ed to jum p two feet behind the board and sailed out 24 feet, easily qualifying. History tells us that Jesse made his exceptional leap o f 26 feet 7 inches in the finals to capture his third Gold Medal and later anchored the U.S. 4x,00 relay to gain his then unprece dented fourth Gold. Owens has been a model figure for all Black athletes for many years. Again we salute this famous star. . O REGOhl E P IS C O P A L S C H O O L has enthusiastic students and effective teachers. Pre-school through Grade 12 High School Resident Program Small classes Experienced Faculty 6300 S.W. Nicol Road Portland, Oregon 97223 (503) 246 7771 anon-discriminatory school Seattle's SuperSonics defeated Washington in Landover, Maryland to win the best o f seven NBA Cham pionship series 4-1. The fun began im m ediately following the game, we decided to journey up north to sec how Seattle reacted to their new status. Under standing fully that this was the first m ajor championship that they’ ve won in 62 years we kind o f expected the city and fans to explode. It was a warm, beautiful night as we sailed up 1-5 North for our desti nation o f Seattle, N B A ’s #1 city o f the world. Portlanders enjoyed this same en chantment in 1976 and from what we saw in Seattle, Portland’s was better. Spontaneous is the key here. In Seat tle it seems that everything was planned, like the parade that wasn’t held until Monday, while the cham pionship was secured Friday. Then, too, Portland had the opportunity to by Allen Jones ROY AYERS - STAR TIME One o f the most gratifying feelings in life is watching someone’s career bloom throughout the years. Such is the case of one o f the very best vibists’ in the business today — Roy Ayers. Roy graduated from Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, and I graduated from Manuel Arts High. Even though he’s two years older, we’ re both Virgo’s so it’s cool. Oh, by the way, Berry White is also a graduate o f Jeff. In viewing Ayer’s opening concert at the Paramont this past weekend one could only marvel at his musical versatility. Particularly i f you’ ve kept abreast o f his music down through the years. Even thought you might consider him a young man chronologically, but musically he’ s an old timer (roughly 20 years in the profession). Many o f the tunes that were played were taken from his latest album “ Fever.” “ It’s Too Late to Try,” “ I Wanna Feel It,” "Simple and Sweet,” and of course “ Fever,” were among many o f the selections done. I f you’re wondering who the attractive female vocalist was — her name is Carla Vaughn. Ms. Vaughn is not only an excellent singer in her own right, she blends tastefully with Ayers. Ayers seldom plays with musicians that aren’ t a part o f his regular crew, which accounts for the compatability o f sound that really added to the overall performance o f the show. The show left very little doubt as to who Roy Ayers is — and how good he is — he’s a star!! CHIC - YES THEY ARE GIVE TO THE UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Stevie Young of Portland used his training and the contacts he made in the Oregon Air Guard to land a Job at the Portland Willamette Com pany in April. Stevie graduated from Jackson High School in 1976, and completed his Air Guard basic training and technical school in March. The Air Guard offers paid training and free job finder service in numerous fields. The LeTroupe Extrordmaire modeling organization presents its 1st Benefit Fashion Show-Dinner-Community Service Awards presentations and Dance, Friday, June 8th at the Downtown Hilton Hotel Grand Ballroom. Cocktails will begin at 6.30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m. Proceeds will go to KBOO Radio Station. The Fashion Coordinator and Show Commentator w ill be Portland's own LaVerne E. Davis. For more details and ticket information please call LaVerne Davis at 288-6391 or 281 - 1091. IN S U R A N C E C O Wholly Owned by ¡5 St. Paul Companies Call Today 1750 S .W . S k y lin e B lv d ., S u ite 220 297-4836 ROSE FESTIVAL SAFEW AY PARADE OF VALUES A d Prices G o o d th ru T u e s ., J u n e 6 a t all P o rtla n d A re a S a fe w a y S to res . . . Sales lim ite d to R e ta il Q u a n titie s O nly! Grade AA Large Eggs ^ supia SAVEA TURKEY ROAST Ovenjoy Bread serirsflB es. SAVl21Clb. 53< PORK CHOPS AsskL lad & Caster Ckeps 3-Pound s*Coffee M axweu ^HOUSL, •* - . Admittedly a large number of the people who attended the Chic — Roy Ayers concert were there to see and hear Chic do their thing — and that’s exact ly what happened. From unemployment lines to Mercedes and penthouses in Manhatann in less than one year is something that everybody wouldn’ t mind experiencing in a lifetime! Suicide was even contemplated by one male member o f the group after his family rejected him and his crazy notion o f becoming a professional entertainer — coupled with the fact that he couldn’t get any music company in New York City to record his music. He walked around for months being called “ La Freak” ; which, by the way, has become one of the largest-selling single records in history. Which goes to show, depending on how bad you want something it ’s obtainable. The show wasn’t a sell-out, as many had expected it to be, but there were many people in attendance so it really didn’ t matter. I f you were on the main floor, as I was, you know what it ’s like to stand for an entire concert, no one seemed to mind, as Chic eased in and out o f one selection after another. In viewing the concert I reached a conclusion regarding the distinctive musical arrangements which add so much to the group’s popularity — it ’s the string and mixing engineer John O rloff. 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