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.
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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. The vocals and showmanship were
also very good. I was very impressed with the group’s overall performance.
Their future appears to be on the rise with more Gold to come!
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