Portland Observar November 29. 1979 Pega 9
Sports Talk
by Ron Sykes
Sports Editor
It was reported before the Sugar Ray
vs. Andy Price fight, that Leonard
was looking past Price to Champion
Wilfredo Benitez.
W ell, he can look no longer,
because Friday night at ap­
proxim ately 6:00 pm (pst) Ray
Leonard w ill have accomplished his
goal, by w inning an unanimous
decision over the champ.
Leonard’s record is a healthy 25-0
with 16 knockouts, while Benitez is
undefeated and has only a draw to
blemish his starry record.
Believe me, Leonard is great, but
»is the champ, and this one will be
treat fight. Is Sugar Ray the for-
n - Olympic great ready for the big
ot ’ “ I think so,” says Lou Harris,
“ But this one will only be a prelude
to the Leonard VS Duran fight.”
“ I give Benitez the edge," beams
longtime fight fan Earl Sykes. Mr.
Sykes thinks the champs experience
will be the difference in a close fight.
Other views on Leonard VS Benitez:
Henry Mitchell: " I ’m just going to
relax, not bet, and enjoy the whole
show.”
Del Butler: “ Leonard’ s going to
have to beat him, but to be truthful,
I haven’ t seen much o f Benitez.”
Remember the name Tom m y
Hearns? W ell, he's the young
welterweight fighting out o f Detroit,
that I ’ve said could very well be the
best in the business.
Mike M orton, manager o f Port­
land’s Mike Colbert, has signed his
boxer for a fight against Hearns ana
proclaimed that it’ s a must win fight
for Colbert. Well, if Colbert’s career
hinges on a victory against Hear­
ns... then Colbert should ready him­
self for a new career and M orton
should begin to drink coffee again.
,’ m sure Hearns will win big.
Tom m y Hearns, at 6*1, is a
tremendous boxer-puncher with in­
credible knockout ability; much like
Leonard, only bigger.
Where are they now? Remember
the great Irving Park Senior League
team that represented Oregon in the
Regional Tournament, held in Con­
cord, CA? Talent wise, this was
probably the best ever to represent
this state. I mean as a group, they
could do it all, but the sorry point is
that only one o f the 14 super players
are doing anything. The team mem­
bers were: Don Polk, Dan Brooks,
2nd base; Tacy Lomax, 1st base; Tim
Concaunon, Pitcher; Donny Ran­
son, 3rd base; Ronny Ranson, R.F.;
Darryl Motley, Pitcher and SS; Gary
Washington, probably should have
played high school, college and even
pro ball, but never played another
year o f baseball. Gary’s talents were
a real waste. Ivory Joe White, C.F.
Ivory Joe had as much raw talent as
anyone. Ivory Joe could run, hit and
was a vacuum in Centerfield, that
along with a Springfield rifle for an
arm. Ivory Joe never played ball past
Irving Park, a real tradgedy.
The Ranson twins, Donny and
Ronny, are said to be competing at
the collegiate level-Ronny in
C a lifo rn ia and D onny, in a
Washington J.C.
Gary Washington, Ivory Joe and
Darryl Motley, all were considered as
likely pro prospects-only Motley has
made it. He's (Motley) is currently
to ilin g
in the
Kansas C ity
organization. Howard Jenkins, a sub
on the 75 team, is reportedly playing
in a Washington junior college also.
A lot o f talent wasted...and who’s to
blame.?
Most fo o tb a ll A D 's spend the
summer thinking up catchy and at­
tractive theme's fo r the coming
season. A few years ago, under the
Don Read regime, a slogan was used
“ On the horizon" which would lead
one to believe that Duck football was
about to arrive. Coach Rich Brooks,
after shying away from cash
promises, therefore, promising no
unwarranted hope this year readily-
agreed to “ the rush is o n" and both
slogans were in effect last Saturday,
when the Ducks took it to the
Beavers to a tune o f 24-3. Brooks did
it by running straight at the Beavers
and pounding out usually 6 and 7
yards per clip. It would have been
worse had not Brooks elected to go
to his bench early, a llow ing his
seniors to get in their farewell licks.
Oregon football is on a definite use
and just have to remember a
statement made last year by W illie
Blasher, "th is program is really on
the way to something big and I'm
going to really feel proud when I
return here, to have been a part of
th is .” Well, W illie, you can start
smiling and return to the Eugene
campus with head held high.
PRIME TIM E SPECIAL
An insideqook at the team that dazzled tha
by capturing the 1977 NBA Championship
Can they do it
s Steve Arena ji
Schonely and
exclusive^
the team, thoindividual players and
the Portlancnrail Blazers.
T o n ig h t 8:
Televi:
Brought to you in
G I JOE S. SAEEWAV^OLKSWAGEN. U S
PCC soccer captain brings Dutch heritage to winning team
defensive player o f the year at PCC
last year.
Persijn is the assistant manager o f
the Grove Loggers Supply in Forest
Grove.
He is the son o f Mr. and Mrs. Ben
Persijn o f Southwest Portland.
His brother is the coach o f an A r­
my soccer team in Honolulu, Hawaii
where the P ortland C om m unity
College team has been invited to play
in the Rainbow Invitational, and in­
ternational soccer tournment, March
30.
When Reggie Persijn, 27, was a
five-year old in Holland, he used to
kick a soccer ball around [he back lot
with his seven Dutch-Indonesian un­
cles.
Now he is team captain o f an all-
Portland soccer team which just won
the Oregon Intercollegiate Soccer
Association championship Saturday,
November 17, at M onm outh--the
Portland Community College Pan­
thers.
PCC defeated Southern Oregon
College 2-1.
Persijn picked the ball away from
SOC’s aggressive offense with foot­
work and pass-and-play ball which
he says he prefers.
Midfielder Gordon Bowen scored
twice fo r PCC during the game.
Freshman M att Engels assisted on
the firs t goal and Dave M artin
assisted on the second.
Persijn, a graduate o f Benson
Polytechnic, who is now a criminal
justice major at PCC, says jokingly
that what he does, “ is rob other
schools o f championships.”
PCC defeated Southern Oregon
last year for the championship and
the U niversity o f P ortland the
previous year.
“ Both o f those teams had beat us
earlier in the season o f the year we
played them for the title ,” Persijn
said. "So they felt robbed.”
Persijn has been a consistent
scorer in a team o f ex-Portland high
school players which scatters scoring
throughout the team rather than cen­
tering on a few stars, according to
he coach Rudi Sommer.
Persijn lead the PCC team to a
teven w in-no loss-one tie season
which included University o f Oregon
ind Oregon State for opponents.
Persijn didn’t play soccer from the
time he left Holland at age six to
move to Portland until he was 15. A
friend o f his older brother asked him
to play for the Skyline Cardinals, a
Portland C ity League team. “ I
didn’ t play until I was 15 because
there were no teams until then,” Per­
sijn said. He said teams were
coached by men who were reading
the soccer rules from books and had
no soccer experience.
"B u t once the Timbers came to
Portland all that changed,” Persijn
said.
Persinjn said that “ people are sur­
prised that the PCC is all local
people from high schools around
and KE
l AO IO
SPORTS HOUR
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1801 N.E. Alberta
ILL
Call: 288 8786
D RAFT YOU
FOR ONLY 15C
Days: Sat., Sun. & Mon.
For M o re Inform ation
Pat M ulin. follow ed by Rich Sm ith, (in dark jerseys) take possessions
of the ball for Portland C om m unity College soccer team to w in the
state championship against Southern Oregon College 2 -1 .
here. Teams use to be just made up
o f foreigners living in the Portland
area. But now we have good high
school teams and good experienced
coaching in Portland. We are start­
ing to develop local players who can
beat any o f the ones from outside.”
Persijn said the team's freshman
goalkeeper, C hris Sigler from
Beaverton High School,, is among the
talented hometown soccer players.
"C h ris is a good goalie who has
been getting used to defense players
in front o f him and handling the
game very well,” Persijn said.
He also sees Rocky H erauf,
defender from Rex Putnam, as the
PCC team’s most improved player-
"a left fullback with more confiden­
ce and teamwork than last year.”
Rich Smith, a PCC freshman from
Jefferson High, has also improved
because o f confidence in the game
and in team playing, according to
Persijn.
“ The reason PCC is good is the at­
titude o f the team ," Persijn said.
“ We play well and we hang around
together. I f one player, no matter
how good, doesn’ t get along with the
others we would just as soon not
have him .”
Persijn said "stars” who just want
to kick the ball in and score and are
not team players are not recruited for
the team.
" A n attitude makes all the d if­
ference in soccer teams and a
player,” Persijn said. During the
champsionship game Persijn and
team members constantly shout en-
. couragement and praise to one
another during the game.
"W hen you make a mistake it is
obvious,” Rudi Sommer, the PCC
coach, explained. “ There’ s no
reason to point it out, but when you
do something right you ought to hear
about it.”
Persijn is also the team captain of
a Portland C ity League team, the
Hollindo Soccer Club. He was voted
the Sportsman o f the Year by the
City League in 1975 and was on the
first team o f the City League’ s all
star soccer team in 1978. He was the
KATU series features Trailblazer history
This year marks the 10th anniver­
sary o f the Portland Trail Blazers,
the small-town pro basketball team
that dazzled the world in 1977 by
capturing the NBA Championship
title. KATU, Television Two in Por­
tland, presents an hour-long look at
the Portland Trail Blazers in the first
o f four specials -- "B lazer Prime
Time S p ecia l" -- Friday night,
November 30th, at 8:00 p.m. The
remaining three specials will air in
January, February and March o f
1980.
Hosts for the "Blazer Prime Time
Special” include Steve Arena,
KATU Sports Director; Bill Shonely,
veteran Trail Blazer play-by-play an­
nouncer; and former University o f
Oregon and pro basketball star,
Steve Jones. Arena presents an up­
date on current Blazer activities, in­
cluding a look at how diet affects a
pro athlete. Blazer Trainer Ron Culp
discusses the common in ju ry o f
sprained ankles; how it happens and
methods o f treatment. Stu Inman,
Director o f Player Prsonnel, offers a
look at the p hilosophy and
techniques behind Blazer college
scouting. Other highlights include a
behind-the-scenes look at the Closed
C irc u it Blazer telecasts at the
Paramount Theatre, a look at the
first Blazer team, answers to letters
by H arry G licktnan and various
player interviews.
For an inside look at Portland’ s
w orld-renow ned pro basketball
team, watch the “ Blazer Prime Time
Special” .
t