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.
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for information call collect Portland (503) 297 1021, weekdays 8 30-6:00
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For most American-made
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Four stainless steel cubing discs,
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Sears
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Life design Handy*
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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
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9:30 am ft 7:00 pm
9:30 am b 7 pm
7:00 pm
Wed.
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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
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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
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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.
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