Portland Observer January 17,1980 Page 7
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Sports Talk
by Ron Sykes
Sports editor
Oregon State University's basket
ball team was ranked fo u rth this
week by Associated Press, th eir
highest ranking ever.
The Beavers, ranked ninth last
week, posted road wins over
Arizona and Arizona State over the
weekend to launch them into their
current lo fty berth. A nd isn’ t it
amazing that Coach Ralph M iller is
counting heavily on fo u r local
products; Ray Blume, M a rk Rad
ford, Rob Holbrook and sixth man
J e ff Stoutt all played in the P or
tland area. In fact, it’s almost like
the state o f Oregon against the
world.
A nd B lazerm ania has been re
placed by B eaverm ania. H ow
quickly they forget. The Beavers
can't relax because George Raveling
is bringing his red hot Cougars, 14-
2, to the W illa m e tte V a lle y and
believe the Cougars will be tough. In
fact, some arc giving WSU a chance
for the PAC-10 title, if OSU should
slip down.
Is this finally the year U C L A will
be dethroned? However, don’t feel
sorry for the men froth Westwood.
A ll they’ re doing is playing four
freshmen who were first team A ll-
American as preps. The experience
will come, but what is really needed
is a good big man. But, too, that
will also come.. .next year.
Is boxing in a sorry state o f
being? We all,expected a decline in
the heavies when the great M uham
mad A li retired, but what we saw
S atu rd ay was rediculous. Leon
S pinks, lo o k in g not u n lik e the
Goodyear blimp, was out o f shape
at 209 pounds, and wasn't very im
pressive against a M r. Evangelista,
who h im s e lf looked m ore lik e a
baby whale than a professional
boxer. Sure Leon eventually took
his opponent o ut, but only after
takin g considerable punishm ent
h im self in the second ro u n d . I
believe in Leon S pink’ s case, the
young man just achieved too much,
too soon. H fn e v e r realized fully
ju s t what he had, and surely
couldn’t handle his quick success.
H e says he’ s now training hard
but his body surely doesn’t show the
end result o f this so called rigorous
training. In boxing you must pay the
price if you want to make it to the
top. There are no short cuts, and
M r. Spinks is not yet ready to pay
the price. One heavyw eight th at
does appear to be ready is Michael
Dokes. Remember the brash young
am ateur that tried to pattern his
style like Ali? Well, after a long in
jury, Dokes is back, and is most im
pressive. M ic h a e l Dokes star is
definately on the horizon.
Blazers are still stumbling and still
not playing A b d u l Jeelan i. The
question now is, ’ ’ has Jack Ramsey
got his coaching game together?"
Remember that Ramsey builds a
team and if his past record is any in
dication, he will also destroy a fran
chise. Just food for thought.
Super Sunday will prove to be a
super yawner. Pittsburgh Steelers
will dominate a Ram team that relies
too heavily on the run. Super Bowl
14 will be about as interesting as Ivy
League football. In fact, H arvard
vs. Yale would probably be a better
show. The 9-7 Rams just somehow
fails to generate very much interest
or enthusiasm.
And it was good to see Roberto
D uran, ex-lightweight cham pion,
looking good again. Although he
was obviously in against a lesser op
ponent, Josef Nsubuga o f Uganda,
and now fighting out o f Norw ay.
Nsubuga was game and showed
prom ise, but was obviously not
ready for Duran. And it was nice
seeing Roberta standing there with
arms held high in victory. Hold'em
high Roberto for when you finally
get your wish and a fig h t w ith
Leonard, you’ll certaintly not have
reason to celebrate. Sugar Ray is not
only going to beat Duran, but will
destroy him, and it won’t be close.
This, however, is one Black man’s
opinion.
PCC basketball captain thinks pro
W hen P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity
College’s Cascade Center basketball
team c ap tain , G ary Thom as, 22,
finishes his third year at PCC this
spring he plans to “ do whatever I
can to make the pros.”
Thomas a 6 ' 7 ’ center who comes
to PCC from Lincoln High School,
is averaging 20 points per game this
season, up from 16 points per game
last year.
‘ ‘ I may not m ake the N B A ,”
Thomas said, "b u t I want to play
anywhere I can. I may have to go
overseas someplace with a team. But
I am the type o f person who, if you
just give me a chance, I ’ll show what
I can do. And all I ’m looking for is
the chance.”
Thom as plans to show pro
basketball coaches what he can do
this summer at a basketball camp in
California.
As part o f an education course
fall term Thomas taught basketball
to a w om en’ s team at Jefferson
High School, an experience which
also has Thom as considering
coaching.
Coach John Lee, a former foot
ball player, basketball star and bas
ketball coach at Linfield College,
said Thomas has brought the P C C
team from its beginnings three years
ago from "just a mediocre team to
one with the chances for a very good
season.”
The PCC team which plays home
games in the gym at the North Port
land Cascade C e n te r, 705 N .
Killingsworth St., has a 4-2 season,
with scores over 100 points in all
games. With 12 home games and 4
away games left in the season,
Coach Lee said the Cascade C en
ter’s team should offer a lot o f free
sports action for the community.
"People who live nearby like to
come over and the team is fun to
watch this year," Lee said. “ They
are an exciting bunch o f kids to
watch, lots o f hustle and fast break
ing b all."
Lee said he thought " k id s are
getting interested in coining to
school here because it’ s close and
because they can play good
basketball."
Thomas, who is the son o f Rev.
and M rs . Roosevelt Thom as,
minister and missionary to the St.
Luke Church o f God in Christ, 2700
N .E . Summer, said that neighbor
hood interest in the team helps make
the playing more fun this year.
“ When the team and everybody
knows the game it makes iny job a
lot e a s ie r,” Thom as said. H e
describes himself as a team captain
who prefers to say a little and do a
lot.
“ I ’ m a real active p la y e r,”
Thomas said. " I love to steal the
ball. 1 dunk. I like to get in the game
and make things happen."
Thomas said his close friendship
with teammates on and o ff the court
has kept him with the PCC basket
ball team.
Coach Lee said the PCC team has
moved fro m C ity League C o m
petition to a schedule with small
college ju n io r varsity teams and
other community colleges.
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Duane Allan. OSU. take« two in Far West Classic match between
the Beavers and Brigham Young.
Local youth entertain crowd
The D unk Kings A ll Stars
delighted basketball fans at the
Portland Coliseum during the 1979
Far West Basketball Tournam ent
Dec. 26-29 with a feature halftime
lowered hoop dunking exhibition
during the Clemson vs. Texas Tech
game.
The A ll Stars from Washington
and O regon received a rousing
reception from the i r r — p—
crowd with encore chants o f “ more
and raise i t ! ” with the young
dunkers responding w ith a fu ll
reportoire o f spectacular dunks at
lowered hoop heights from six feet
to an electrifying performance on
the arena glass by Keith Washington
and Greg West o f Benson Tech
High School and Jon Anderson o f
Lebanon, Or.
The Pittm an brothers, Tony 14
and Tim m y 12, also responded with
some excellent dunks. Tim m y en-
O W t» fripSM
u l n amt f t i u m j if.^
crowd he could get up and should be
on the arena glass soon.
By Ullysses Tucker. Jr.
“ Last year when I was with
Chicago, we swept Portland; now I
am in In d ia n a sweeping them
again,” said Mickey Johnson, after
the Pacers slipped by the T r a il
blazers 122-118 behind his 31 points
and 12 rebounds.
“ Over the last few years Mickey
has had some o f his best games in
this C oliseum ," said Paul Knauls,
owner o f Geneva's Food and Drink
on N orth W illiam s Avenue. “ I ’ ve
always been a fan o f his, he can
really shoot the b a ll." Knauls, and
his w ife Geneva have been avid
Blazer fans fo r years. They
represent two o f a few Blacks who
are season ticket holders. Knauls
then enlightened this w riter to the
fact that Mickey Johnson was draf
ted by the Blazers in the fo u rth
round o f the 1974 college draft, and
released after rookie camp.
Also drafted and released that
same year was Jan Van Brenda
K a lff, currently o f the New Jersey
Nets. Bill W alton was the number
one pick that season for the Blazers.
Johnson, a graduate o f little
A urora College in Illin o is , signed
with the Pacers this past summer as
a free agent, a fte r spending four
years in Chicago.
“ I was more than glad to leave
that city,” he said. "There was a lot
o f undue pressure on me from the
fans, the coaches, and maybe even
from the management. Ed Badger
and I got along pretty good until we
started to lose games. Coach Larry
C ostello and I hardly ever com
m unicated w ith each other. I
couldn’t believe that they tried to
blame me for us losing games. I
th in k they wanted to low er my
m arket value since they knew I
wasn't going to sign with th e m ,”
he continued.
Head Coach o f the Pacers, Bob
"S lic k " Leonard had faith in John
son’s ability as a player. He said, " I
found it hard to believe all those
rumors about M ic k e y . I just
couldn’t buy that. Whenever a team
loses in this league, somebody
-.BfcBWf» fM the blame. M ost o f the
time, Payers are the ones who get
the beef. Mickey is a good person.
Up to this point, 1 think he’s having
his best year in the N .B .A . He gives
us a scoring punch from the outside
when his shot is on, and he’s very
quick at 6-foo t-9.”
Johnson, a native o f Chicago, has
scored 4,443 points, grabbed 2,970
rebounds, and dished out 862 assist
going into his fifth N .B .A . season.
Johnson’s career scoring average is
13.5 points a game, with his best
season coming in 1977-78, when he
scored 18.3.
Last season he averaged 15.4
points, and grabbed 7.6 rebounds.
Johnson’ s 380 assist were second
best among forw ards around the
N .B .A . Rick Barry o f the Houston
Rockets led the league.
C u rre n tly , Johnson is firin g in
points at a 21.1 clip and pulling
down only 3.0 rebounds per contest.
W hen
questioned
about
his
reputation about not playing any
defense, Johnson quickly replied,
" I th in k my D is pretty good.
People don’t take me to the hoop at
will. Everybody in this league gets
burned with all the talent on hand.
That bum rap was something started
in Chicago; you know how the press
tries to degrade some athletes."
Johnson continued, “ I ’m only 27
years old and just moving into the
prime o f my career. I don’t have to
prove that I belong in this league
anymore. A ll I have to do is build
upon what I ’ ve already accom
plished. Now that I have the past
behind me, I can start devoting
myself to the future. I ’m very glad
that I ’ ve found a home w ith the
Pacers; it’s a nice organization.”
“ M y advice to youngsters is to
obtain a sound education just in
case athletics don’t go your w a y ,"
Johnson smiled. “ This is a numbers
game and everybody can’ t get
lucky.”
James Edwards, the 7’ 1 center for
the Pacers who added 35 points
against P o rtla n d said, " ju s t
th in k ...th e Blazers had M ickey,
Johnny D avis, C o rk y , Moses
Malone, and Bill Walton in the past
couple o f years. M ayb e th ey’ ve
traded away all their good players.
Not to mention that they |
up in the 1977 draft.
> m ir
.i .
No more dedicated couple can be found in our
community than Reverend John Parker and hit wife,
Vivian.
Reverend and Mrs. Parker, Founders of Prison
Ministries, devotes much of their time to visiting in
mates of prisons in the Northwest, as weN os weekly
visits to Rocky Butte. Aside from counselling and en
couraging incarcerated men and women, they assist
those who are on parole or are adjusting beck Into
society, and aid prisoner's families.
Their ministry not only helps prisoners and their
families, but remind those on the outside of their re
sponsibilities to prisoner-who coma from and will
return to this community.
BROUGHTTO YOU BY
I
EBBS*
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