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
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