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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1979)
Portland Observar Thursday. S eptem ber 27,1979 Page 7 Sports Talk by Ron Sykes Sports Editor Rumor, out o f Blazer camp has it that cuts w ill be made this week, and Steve Hayes, 7’ , center from Idaho w ill receive the ax along with free agent Stan Eckwood. Hayes’ chances were always slim, but Eckwood's, I thought, were good to stick. Such are things in the way o f the NBA. Eckwood, at 6 ’4” , had tremen dous potential and only asked fo r time to learn and develop. Eckwood, from tiny Harding College, located in Searcy, Arkansas, w ill probably sign a contract to play in Europe, and my prediction is that he w ill blossom and resurface a few years hence into a very good NBA player. The rap in the league (N B A ), is th a t very few m a rg io n a l Black players are kept on the active roster, these p o sitio n s are alleged to be kept fo r the white ball players, Ala Larry Steele. Blazer brass have repeatedly claimed that there is no quota in mind when it comes to choosing players fo r the team. But their actions in the past lends no credibility to that statement. Portland has always played before the whitest audiences using one o f the whitest teams in the N BA. In a league where Blacks comprise 60 per cent o f the roster, Portland’ s roster w ill continually be well under that figure. W ho w ill make this year’ s team? D on’ t know. But believe Jim Paxson, Dave Twardzik, Bob Gross, Larry Steele and Kevin Kunnert w ill stay. Those are players that you can bet your bottom dollar on being here when that first ball is bounced on October 12th. Now i f the rosters are to remain at the eleven player lim it, then one or tw o good Black ball players w ill be searching for either another N BA team, or a good 9-5 remains that i t ’ s true, and real. This is how, 1 th in k, the Blazer roster w ill look on October 12th! Guaranteed to m ake it (w hites). 1. Jim Paxson 2. Dave Twardzik 3. Bob Gross 4. Larry Steele 5. Kevin Kunnert W ill cut (Steve Hayes) Guaranteed to m ake it (Blacks) 6. T.R. Dunn 7. Lionel H ollins (trade possible) 8. Maurice Lucas (trade likely) 9. Mychal Thompson 10. Ron Brewer 11. Kermit W ashington (trade pos sible) What I ’ m alluding to is that in essence there is a quota system in the NBz\. And this has been one Black man’ s opinion. Clemon Johnson wasn’ t mentioned because not many N B A teams carry three centers, so Johnson w ill be traded. gig- Okay, T.R. Dunn has impressed. Lionel H ollins, Mychal Thompson, Ron B rew er, M a u ric e Lucas are im m ovable objects, unless they’ re used as tra d in g m a te ria l. N ew ly acquired strongman Kermit Wash ington w ould also have to be in cluded in that category. Which leaves one A bdul Jeelani, the 6’ 8” forward out o f little Wisconsin-Parkside. A ll A b d u l has done was to lead the Blazers in scoring over the first two games. Jeelani has scored and played well, and if it were only ability he had to beat out then he too would have a spot on the roster. But Jeelani must face th a t u n w ritte n la w ...c a lle d quota. Greg Bunch, small forward, can also play, but he too w ill be left out. In reality you have nine good ball players fighting fo r the last six spots. W hether the P ortland organiza tion w ill admit it or not, the fact still So the Oregon Ducks lost a tough one to num ber ten ranked W a sh in g to n , they also lost th e ir num ber one q u a rte rb a c k Reggie O g b u rn , the young man th a t so adeptly runs the Oregon attack. This was one the H uskies needed a m iracle to w in . . .and we’ ve now learned that they still happen. Oregon's record now stands at 1-2 and w ill probably slip to 1-3 after taking on highly ranked Purdue in Lafeyette, In d ia n a th is Saturday. Oregon is a very good team that w ill seriously challenge fo r a Rose Bowl berth next year. The Ducks could very well finish this season with a good 8-3 record. If so, then perhaps a post season game is not out o f the realm o f possibility. Pittsburgh, in spite o f all the in juries, just keeps on rolling along. T h a t’ s depth. Dallas, on the other hand, can’ t seem to survive w ithout their good pass rusher, ‘ ‘ Too T a ll” Jones. A f ter struggling to three straight vic tories against weak opponents, the C o w b o ys were h u m ilia te d by Cleveland on Monday night 26-6. A T most valuable player: M y pick is Boston’ s Jim Rice to repeat. Rice is hitting 329, fourth best; w ith 39 homeruns and 129 R B I’ s. National League’ s Dave Kingman o f the Cubs is a good choice with a league leading 47 H R 's. Just to be running Last spring, before he captured the Oregon State o u td o o r track cham pionship in the 100- and 200-ntetei dashes, Bryon H ow ell said, “ 1 ru r track just to be ru n n in g ." That was a modest statement foi an in d iv id u a l w ho smashed state records and has been clocked at 1 0 / and 21.7 respectively. H o w e ll ha: also been the state champion the past two seasons in both events and shows excellent potential. Suppose he ran like he was serious? Six m onths have passed since H owell made that statement. Since then the young sprinter has had a reincarnation o f the m ind. “ 1 really learned a lot about myself this past summer,” he said from M att Dish man C o m m u n ity Center in N o rth east Portland while liftin g weights. "E s p e c ia lly in the areas o f c o n d i tio n in g , d is c ip lin e , c o n c e n tra tio n and lastly 1 realized how much talent 1 actually have.” The event that turned the 17-year- o ld ’ s life around was a trip to ex- N B A great Sonny H ill’ s basketball camp in Philadelphia fo r tw o weeks. It was held at Cheyne State College w ith head coach John Cheyne helping along. “ L ife back East is real tough and c o m p e titiv e ,” said H o w e ll. “ Brothers back there have to really put out a little extra to get over the hump and out o f the ghetto. They taught me to play w ith intensity at all times. I t ’ s real d iffe re n t fro m the relaxed atmosphere in Oregon.” The trip was paid fo r by a native o f the east coast, Maurice Lucas o f the Portland T rail Blazers who is a 1972 graduate o f H enley H ig h School in Pittsburgh. “ Luke has helped me a great deal over the past few years— he’ s given me a lo t o f his personal tim e , knowledge, and I respect him like a big bro th e r,” said Howell. Lucas is no stranger to the P o rtla n d co m m unity, he is always trying to help youngsters in some capacity whether its through basketball camps, o r just showing up in the park on a sunny afternoon. D u rin g H ill's cam p H o w e ll averaged 16.0 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in five games, despite m issing tw o contests w ith a bad ankle. “ Most o f the coaches thought that I was in college because o f my a b ility , I shocked them when I men tioned what school 1 a tte n d ,” he said. As a ju n io r at C entral C a th o lic High last season, H ow ell averaged 22.0 per game, made All-State, A ll- M etro, and was the only underclass man named to the C a th o lic A ll- American Basketball Team. “ Last season I alm ost went crazy,” said Howell. “ There wasn’ t Wendell Tyler continues to lead the N F L in fumbles. W hile Tampa Bay continues to impress. JO E’S PLACE * DRAFT you for only 150 Days: Sat., Sun. & Mon. Call: 288 8786 vs. Humboldt State University Saturday, Sept. 29 7:30 pm Civic Stadium A BRYON HOWELL a day that passed w ithout me being in a mental rut. We had a bad season and many people gave me the cold shoulder, the press called me a wild player— 1 fou n d out that they can make or break y o u .. .. ” Howell attributes his sanity to his parents Hozie and A d e ll who were always there when the w orld turned him o ff . “ He has a lo t o f raw talent,” said his father Hozie, a daily w eightlifter at M a tt Dishman also. “ A ll he needs is the fundamentals to round him o u t.” W hat about selection o f a college? “ I ’ d like him to narrow it down to about six schools, so that there w on’ t be to o m uch p ressure,” he co n tin u e d . B y ro n ’ s choices in clude F lo rid a State, P epperdine, S ta n ford, University o f Texas, Nevada- Reno, and A rizo n a State, a recent visitor to the H ow ell’ s home. “ I f I fail to raise my 3.0 G P A , 1 w o n 't be going a n yw h e re ," Byron said seriously. “ I ’ m gonna buckle down real tig h t this year because when you’ re Black you have to be above average academically.” A spiring to be a business m ajor in college, Howell wants to defend his two dash titles and q u a lify fo r the 1980 O lym pic Trials in Eugene next spring. “ I ’ d also lik e to p la y in the M c D o n a ld ’ s C a p ita l Classic in Washington, D .C .,” said the 6’ 3” , 180 pound senior. " I heard that the best high school basketball players in the nation play there each ye a r." H o w e ll, o n ly 17-years-old co n tinued, “ People said that I was all fo r m yself and d id n ’ t play defense last year, but th a t’ s not the case," he c la rifie d . “ They fo rg o t that I was battling bigger people playing at the post position instead o f my nature! guard slot. Just w a it— I 'll show all the critics how complete I am .” QJ g IOOE^ OLYMPIC NIGHT BOOK 0® • Includes 2 East Bleacher Each * Tickets Reg. 4.50 each ua,c\ *.« (2 J 0 of eech SJw parch«»« gees te H m I Halftime Fireworks Display 100 Trailblazer tickets to bo given away at the game SCORE BIG WITH VIKING FOOTBALL And Support the U.S. Olympic Team! NOTICE graphy, ti.E.D. preparation, belly dance, women's and co-ed volleyball, piano lessons, women's fitness, stained glass windows, womens' and mens’ basket ball, hacky sack, weight loss management, badminton, calligraphy, dough art fo r ( hristmas. I.a Mazz childbirth preparation, dance exercise and educational play fo r toddlers. 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