,. . . 10 ftortland ObNrver Februe,t I. 1111
Sports Talk
Dick Bogle
Who will be the next Blazer All-star 7
By Ron Sy/co
-~Editor
"'Tiny Archibald just may be
small but in Sunday's AU-star aame
played in Cleveland'• sparklina new
arena, Tiny couldn't have been
biger. The 6-1 Celtic leader scored
9 points, the fewest ever by an
MVP, had 10 assists and won on his
dominate floor pme.
Nate ii the key to Boston's suc-
cess, and just think five years aao,
General Manaaen around the
leaaue were writina him off as all
throuah. Archibllld at the hciaht of
his career suffered back-to-back in-
jurlea, one of them a serious ar-
chiUes tear. Most people would have
aivcn up but the little man from the
Brooklyn housina projects huna
touah and showed what he was
made of.
Tiny, on the court, displays con-
fidence, and further shows day in,
and day out that if you're aood
enouah, you're big enouah. The
East let a I01-9I lead slip away and
had to survive a three point attempt
by Seattle's Jack Sikma to barely
escape with a 123-120 win.
The we' re No. I chant has
probably rana throuahout every
colleae campus in the nation durina
the course of a football, or basket-
ball season. It seems as thouah
everybody's fans derives some sort
of seasoned satisfaction out of
stickina a fiaaer, usually the index
one, in the air and aleefully ex-
claimina supremacy for their own.
Beina No. I in basketball is only a
mythical achievement that probably
does more aood than bad. And
really now, until the final four is
chosen in March, what is it worth?
The Blue Devils were the early
choice and coach Ray Meyers ad-
mitted that he was relieved when the
pressure was off, once they were
beaten. And it can wreck a team.
Being No. I means you no longer are
satisfied in beating a team. When
you're No. I you have to become
cold, allow no mercy, take no
prisoners. You must crush the op-
position by as many points as
possible. How does this affect your
team?
Well, it means your starters will
play lonaer, yow youna players will
miss much needed time on the court.
More often than not, beina No. I
can turn 1ood auys into monsters. It
can cause some auys to over
estimate their abilities. Take reserve
forward Rob Holbrook's reaction
to OSU's win over USC. "It was
embras1in1, dis1ustin1,,. Holbrook
said in the Beaver lockerroom.
Now, this was a fine USC team that
OSU should have been alad to beat.
But remember when you're No. I,
you seem to lose the proper perspec-
tive.
55-48 and OSU were sad, they
should consider themselves for-
tunate because when they journey
down south they'll be fortunate to
come away with any kind of victory,
After their weekend defeats of
UCLA and USC people are callina
them inconsistent because of the
narrow 7 point victory over SC.
When you're 17-0, as the Beavers
are, one can hardly call that incon-
sistent. But l guess those are the
periles of beina No. I.
Seek other NBA positions
By Ullys.ra.f TMc:k~r.
Jr.
Most Black youth• participatina
on hiah school/colleae bas~etball
teams aspire to be like Doctor Er-
vin&, Ice Man, Kareem, Magic, and
a host of other fine players scattered
around the National Basketball
Association.
On the other hand, how many
aspire to be like Jim Capers, Hue
Hollins and Lee Jones -- Who?
These men are n.b.a., officials - the
men who tell Darryl Dawkins, the
massive center for the Philadelpia
Sevcnty-Slxcrs to .. shut-up" or calls
the seconds on Portland's Calvin
Natt. They are the most feared and
respected persons 01, the basketball
court. More imporunt, each man is
a positive role model for Blacks in
sports to follow .
"I tell kids you can earn aood
money as a basketball official for
working short hours," said John
Thompson, the huae basketball
coach of Georaetown University
and former Boston Celtic.
"But most of them look at me
like I'm crazy or somethina. They
just don't know all their options
and stress more to our youth that
after basketball is over."
they can excel in other fields besides
Although there arc only twenty-
sports," he said. Programs such as
seven regular N.B.A. officials, jobs
the Afro-Cultural Technological
are readily available on the college
Scientific Olympics sponsored
and high school level.
nationally by the NAACP and the
Blacks should also aspire to be Urban Leaues Career Awareness
like Wayne Embry, Simon Gour- workshops.
Brown continued, "we can't
dine, and Wally Scales -- If you are
familiar with the N.B.A., you will depend on coaches to monitor the
know that Embry is the General system because many of them are
Manaaer for the Milwaukee Bucks; the main beneficiaries. Youna
Gourdine, the Deputy Com- athletes have to start looking out for
missioner of the N.B.A.; and Scales their own best interest. That way,
is the Promotions Director for Port- they can only blame themselves for
failures. How many guys do you
land •
"It's a challenge 10 come up with know walking around town without
new promotional concepts," said a degree -- talking about how their
Scales. "Once you come up with coach really messed them up? You
new concepts then you have to use must look out for yourself."
different marketing techniques to
Georgetown's John Thompson
sell them to the general public." summed up the situation facing
Scales is responsible for promoting Black athletes.
all the products related 10 the
"Guys have got 10 learn that they
Blazers.
can be statisticians, public relations
at New York University says the people, trainers, and lawyers in
Black community is partly to blame sports," he said, "There are so
for Blad youths believina sports is many other jobs associated with the
game that many arc unaware of and
the only way to achieve.
"We have to discipline ourselves that's a shame."
I just finished watchlna t he
second hair of the annual NBA AU-
Star aame on CBS, and I think the
network aot so involved in the social
aspects or the aame that it really
didn't do justice to a pretty fair
ballgame.
The final score was 123 to 120 1 a
narrow victory for the East team
over a West team which had no
Portland Trailblazers on its rooster.
But the CBS broadcast crew con-
tinually ianored the very fine play
on the floor and gave viewers anec-
dotes of games past from years past,
interviews with celebrctics who add-
ed little or anythina to the actual
game and camera cutaways to the
crowd durina time of some real
good action on the floor.
The network treated the aame
more as a party rather than an
athletic event.
It's too bad there weren't any
Trailblazers on the West roster .
There use to be a leaaue rule makina
it mandatory that each team have at
leut one player on the All-star
teams. But the rule went out the
window this year.
What about next year? Will there
be any Blazers represented on the
1981-82 All-star team? Let's hope
so. Who would they be? Unless one
of two miracles happens, it certainly
won't be either one of our centers.
One such miracle would be the
early arrival to the NBA of Virainia
sophomore center Ralph Sampson.
That would take a whole series of
unlikely events. fint, the youna
man would have to chanae his mind
about stayina in colleae and turn
hardship. Then a team, which owes
Portland a number one draft pick
would have to finish last in its con-
ference and then win a coin toss for
the first pick. Cleveland docs owe us
such a pick, but the Cavaliers
finishina beneath the New Jersey
Nets and the Detroit Pistons is
unlikely. But suppose it all happen-
ed that way, and the Blazers got to
choose Ralph Sampson. Can you
imaaine the kind or bucks its going
to take to sign him? If we thouaht
the neaotiations between the Blazers
and Kelvin Ransey were aaonizin1,
we "ain't" heard nothing yet. So, it
appears 10 be a waste of time 10 even
think about the talented Sampson
playina here unless it's in a Dallas,
Detroit or New Jersey uniform.
The only oilier possible manner in
which we could land an All-star cen-
ter is throuah a trade. And the
chances of that appears to be about
as slim as the reunification of the
Blazers championship team of 1976-
77.
We stand a good chance of Iand-
ina a forward on next year's All-'
stars and my auess would be either
forward Calvin or big man Mychal
Thompson.
Natt has had more than his share
of naaaina physical aches and pains
this year and some difficulty fittina
in with the riaid offense of coach
Jack Ramsey. But a healthy Natt
has a lot aoina for him. His inside
game is amazinaly strona for a 6'6
player and his shootina ranae is
wide. One of the thinas that makes
Natt so valuable to Portland is that
he likes to play physical and on this
year's Blazers that's a rarity.
Thompson, thouah not nearly as
physical as either Natt or Kermit
Washinitton, could become and All-
star power forward if Portland
lands a touah reboundina intimida-
tina center. Mychal is a aood
shooter, rebounds well and most of
the time is an excellent passer. This
season, if played relatively free of
injuries, should be his second com-
plete NBA season. Bigger and better
things arc ahead for the youn~
Bahamian.
Most of the Blazer's dept h i, ,11
guard where three young men " 11 1.
bright futures holds forth.
The Blazer's key 10 succes!I i~ tir,1
year playmaker Kelvin Ransey. I h~
rookie can do everything a guard is
supposed to do. He moves the ball
well, spots the open man and cap hit
him with a pass, plays good defense
and ,.;an put the ball in the hole.
I feel it's between him and
Mychal Thompson to be the nex1
Blazer All-stars.
TECH FEVER!!!
A.C. GREEN
Again Choaen
Observer Player
of the Week
Senior center, A. C. Green, scored 25 point■ when
the Techmen beet Wilson 72-19 last Friday. He had 37
in an earlier win at Grant.
A.C. continues to impr . . coaches and fans with his
ell-around play.
Congratulations A . C.
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
...
Rep. Jim Chrest
Senator Bill McCoy
Rep. Howard Cherry
Meet your representatives ...
Discuss the issues facing the 1981 Legislature. • •
Let your opinions be heard ...
Bourbon Street Restaurant - 1530 N.E . Grand
_9:30 - 11 :30 Saturday - February 7, 1981
$3.50 - Breakfast
$1 .50 - Coffee Only
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