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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1981)
Page 8 Portland Observer, October 1,1981 ee The honey Sports Talk was tempting, but by Ron Sykes, Sports Editor Baseball to d a y .. . football tomor row. A strike is imminent. The term "free agent" is mislead ing. And it’s the free that causes concern. As all followers o f profes sional sports know by now, free agents do not come free. They cost mucho dough. And also, in most cases, they cost c o m p e n s a tio n - compensation in the form o f money or other players. M u rra y Chass writes that it is the teams, however, that view the “ free” in free agent from that angle. Players in the N F L see the problem in another light. To them, the “ free” doesn’t belong in free agents because free agents in the NFL really aren’t free to go any where. The N F L ’s free-agent system is worse, for players, than any o f the other fo u r m a jo r team sports. W alter Payton, the Chicago Bears all-everything running back, and undoubtedly the best RB in the N F L , is a good case in point. Pay- ton declared his free agency this year and not one team was interest ed. Why? O k ay , share the w ealth is good enough reason. The last tim e N F L players entered into labor negotia tions with their employers their war- cry was " fre e d o m .’ ’ They felt op pressed by the then-existing free- agent rule and wanted a new rule, one which would give them signifi cant freedom o f movement. They were told when they ratified the new agreement, that they had won that kind o f m ovem ent, but soon found out d iffe re n tly . Some players still can be heard screaming for legitimate free agency; the battle cry this time around is "share the wealth.” And therein lies the problem . Share the wealth. The players hope that owners will share some o f that incredible wealth w ith them ; but what is real is that owners only share with each other. What has happened to free-agcn- cy? Ed Garvey, the players* union boss, says the team have ignored the free agents, even such stars as Vince Ferragam o and P ayto n , because they're not interested in w inning. N F L teams already make about as much money as they can and w in ning wouldn't bring in enough addi tional revenue to cover the cost o f expensive free agents. So why sign free agents? O th er people contend that the asking price is too high. D ra ft choices in football, they point out, are too critical to give away even for star free-agents. W h atever reason you buy, free agents just don’t have much chance o f leaving teams. L e t’s look at the results o f the 1980 crop o f free agen ts. O f 131 players who were free agents and thus eligible to move to other teams, only seven actually did change teams. And none o f the sev en who moved did so for compensa tio n . In fact, only one player has moved for com pensation in five years. Salaries o f the players who changed teams in 1980 were in creased from an average o f $55,000 to $71,000, a 29 per cent increase. Salaries o f the re-signed players rose a paltry 30 per cent, from an aver age o f $ 71 ,00 0 to $ 9 6 ,0 0 0 . These figures pale when placed alongside the salaries won in recent years by baseball players due to free-agency. I f there is one thing threatening the attractiveness o f the N F L , it ’ s the desire on the part o f some officials and owners to have a perfectly bal anced league, one in which every team has a chance to wind up at .500. The d ra ft has helped create that possibility. Free agency it its real form could counter it, prevent it from happening. N F L owners are complacent, fat and w ealthy. A nd fo r this reason they will probably encounter a strike next football season. M ichigan’ s W olverines just may have the best offensive line around. T o give you an idea about M ic h i gan’s line, there are these two tack les. Michigan uses the term "qu ick ta c k le " fo r Bubba P a ris , and "strong tackle" for Ed M uransky. Paris is 6 -fo o t-7 and weighs 270. T h a t’s quick and not strong? W ell, M u ran sky is 6-7 and weighs 275. And these little people are joined by K u rt Becker (6 -6 and 260) at one guard and Center Tom D ix o n , 6-5 and 250. M ichigan’s favorite hunt ing ground is the state o f F lo rid a, where all this talent was found. G o South, Rich B rooks, go South. And not California. You probably know about M a r cus Allen, the USC tailback who be comes eligible for the pros in 1982. You should know about Trym aine Johnson, a w ide receiver out o f Grambling. Said one scout, "A n th o ny Carter (o f M ichigan] may be great but he c o u ld n ’ t carry Johnson’ s jo c k . Comparing Carter to Johnson is like comparing W alter Payton to Archie G riffin ." Trojans should stay No. 1. I f you thought the OSU vs. Minnesota was a comedy, then this week’s Tro jan vs Beavers should be a three-rin g circus. USC by a landslide. W here is he now: G ale Sayers. U n til this September, Sayers served as athletic director at Southern Illi nois U n ive rs ity in C arb o n d ale. Since then he has opened a public relations office in Chicago and has taken on some special projects for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. F «R7«-13 . C R 7 I1 3 . CR7I 14 X . QIER7S 14 U 4_ GR7I 14 L FR7S 1$ . 6 R 7 I 15 I MIJ7R15 . F21S/75RÌ4 F20S/7SR1S F21SI7SR15 P225/75R1S m—i Amwwan ipri awa-T” 1 ¿Sv, for information call collect Portland (503) 297 1021, weekdays 8 30-6:00 © FIT ’•F ’ î.' » 5 » 5 * 4 3 J < ¿ T í B R 7I13 0R7» 14 1 2 U T OFF JT3 »? . 61.3« T T F T 4 . H 7»S S 61J T R 6 T 4 . $19 95 S I M T ^ T 4 . S M I 5 .6 4 I Î 2M T4. 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R egular $ 5 9 .9 9 , 5 0 0 6 1 4 9 .9 9 w Brake Job for disc or drum systems ,n I; " S e a n Spectrum d u a l a ir filte r I R eg .S4.49 M u z z ie r ’ m u H le r In tta lle d . to m e paru m a y be a d d itio n a l 3 49 V A L U E Econom y pack o f 4 lig h t bulbs 24»» S A V E * 2 5 o n 7-speed R eg u lar sep arate prices to ta l >89 99 Choree o f 60, 75 or 100-w a n 4 bulbs per pack N ew master cylinder, power booster, brake lines, drums/ „ rotors are extra if needed For most American-made cars $ _ »I 4=5 1 6 4 99 Four stainless steel cubing discs, including French cutting disc, mixing blade Sears U'A»S »OC4UCK AAfOCO PORTLAND • PH ()\fc 2 3 8 - 2 3 1 1 \ r i, r im i . i in n i» m ip p tH k m u Munday and I rid ,) 9 II» VM 9 iiilFM T u r. . » r d . Thur. 9 U H M 1« ftPM Saturday 9 30VM to 5.30PM Sonda) Sioin to 5 I WASHINGTON SOI VHI. PIIONfc A2M-1 SI4a »•«a» .’ I : at I.H F l SHI Ml. 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S t «6 ¡ $106 95 00 21 S t 62 : S109 95 12 46 St 79 05 46 ' $113 95 St »5 235815 $ 1 0 9 1 5 Au’r»w«\ Ird I bij ' d»’ • Paul and G anava K n aw ls celabrata th e ir 16th w a d d in g anniversary w ith a visit to P o rta g e G lacier near A n ch o rage, A laske. AM7H3 a z tii ” î \ • 9:30 am ft 7:00 pm 9:30 am b 7 pm 7:00 pm Wed. 7:00 pm Thur». 9:30 am Fri. (Marantha Church) 122 N.E. Skidmore 9:30 am Sat Emanuel Hospital 2801 N. Gantanbein Emanuel East, Room 2001 (Nursing Home) Thurs. 7:00 pm IN FR76 14 GR7I 14 N ortheast P o rtlan d Mon. Tue«. Closeout Hurry, quantities are limited Two steel belts for strength and lonq tire mileage 19 « 8 It s easier to lose w eig h t w hen you re not doing it alone. Fellowship Baptist Church 4737 N Lombard St. Tue«. 7:00pm N o rth Portland Carpenters’ H alt 232E N Lombard St. (at Brandon) M on. 7:00 pm Thurs. 9 : » am SuperG uard steel-b elted ra d ia l J S T tll habits into good ones Join us today The fabulous 1981 Food Plans are waiting along w ith a lot of friendly people Join Any Class Anytime U/eat h e r Wise. C o m p u te r d e sig n ed tread for g re a t grip o n w e t. d ry snow, re L o w rolling resistance helps save fuel Tw o steel bells for stren gth an d lo ng w e a r J your bad eating The most successful w eight lot* program in the world on all-season radiais FISSISODI? P155II0R13 F1SSII0R13 F H S /7 M 1 3 P185/I0R13 F 115175a 14 F H S /7 S a i4 we can teach you how to enjoy lots of your favorite foods (within limits' and still lose weight We can help you turn WEIGHT WATCHERS iî- SAVE 25% Sears When heard about 1981 Weight Watchers Food Plans, our classes attracted lots of honey lovers, popcorn poppers, and peanut butter nuts! Then people discovered something even more irresist ible about W eight Watchers Other people They found that Weight Watchers m em bers really cared A nd it was so much easier to lose weight when they w eren't doing it alone Together, at weekly classes. PVKk > H || la» M Oii|*M
