Portland Observer, February 4, 1982 Page
Jack Ramsay: An interview
Orassrool News. N. W .— One o f
the architects o f professional bas
ketball is the coach o f the Portland
Trailblazers, Jack Ramsay. For over
th irty years Ramsaynas drawn the
blueprints for basketball plays. “ I
always liked playing the game. In
the 7th grade my father put a basket
up in fro n t o f the barn. I used to
shovel the snow just to shoot hoops.
I stayed with the game and played in
the Eastern League. M y introduc
tion to coaching was with a college
team and I ’ ve been a coach ever
since.”
His definition o f good basketball
is organization. “ To be an effective
team you have to have a w ell-
thought-out plan that is feasible. I
have put this thought in two books
and numerous articles. It can be
very exciting and the game requires
a lot o f team play. Basketball is the
most competitive sport in the world.
All these factors make basketball an
attrac tive medium to be involved
in ."
A coach can become the catalyst
for nraise or the focus o f criticism.
Jack Ramsay responds to his critics,
“ I'm not concerned about what
people say or think. M y only intent
is winning the game and each game
at hand. Each game is a pitched bat
tle and you have to win enough o f
those battles to win the war.”
The criticism o f Ramsay is cen
tered around his system. “ Every
body has their own style o f play.
The thing that I hope my team will
do is to play aggressive, sound de
fense' I f we don’t succeed with that
we have a good half-court offensive.
I expect 100 per cent effort from my
players and if I don't get it I will get
other players.”
A nd Ramsay has. “ Moses M a
lone was dealt for econom ic rea
sons. I f you look at players who
have le ft P o rtla n d very few have
done as well as they did when they
were w ith P o rtlan d. Tom Owens,
M au rice Lucus or L io n el H o llin s
have had their best years in P o rt
land. I require that players perform
for us. I f they do not perform they
just can’t play here.”
Does Jack Ramsay ever over-
coach? “ T h a t’ s possible. I ’ m not
immune from error. But I will say
that I ’ m giving it my one hundred
per cent e ffo rt. I f that doesn’ t ap
peal to a sportswriter who has only a
superficial knowledge o f the game,
that is the least o f my worries.”
M any T railb lazers fans want to
know why there hasn't been a cham
pionship since the 1976-77 season.
“ There are some franchises who
have never won a cham pionship.
This is a very competitive sport. I ’m
w illing to stand on my record. My
team has won more games in the Iasi
eight years than any other coach in
basketball. W e have been in the
playoffs eight years in a row. W e’ve
lost some key players through in
ju ry , contract dissatisfaction and
whatever else prevented the players
from reaching their m axim um
point. We are now working with a
very young team.”
From what perspective should we
view the P o rtla n d Trailblazers?
Coach Jack Ramsay says, “ I think
the public should perceive this cur
rent team as very youn with poten
tial to grow. I t ’s a team that I hope
will make the playoffs. We currentl)
have the eighth-best record in the
N atio n al Basketball Association.
There are 23 teams in the N BA and
that’s not bad.”
Boxers dislike
saftey glove
JA C K R A M S A Y
How will fence affect Mariners?
OSU's
Lester Conner
Lester C o nn er, 6-4 sr. guard is
having a banner year for O S U .
M any say that Conner is the “ glue
that holds the Beavers tog eth er.”
C onner is leading the Beavers in
scoring with a 15.7 average, in as
sists with 87 and steals w ith 63.
C onner is second in rebounding
w ith 77 and is second in minutes
played with 960. When the O SU
Beavers take the court Lester
Conner is always a marked man.
Does anyone remem ber O S U ’ s
promising 6-11 Center. Greg W ilt-
jer?
In the five seasons since the M a r
iners joined the American League,
the Kingdome has gained the repu
tatio n as a h itte r’ s paradise and
home-run haven. That reputation is
well-deserved, but may be changing
in 1982. The o u tfie ld w all in the
Dom e is I I feet, 6 inches high.
However, the Kingdome has agreed
to raise the wall from the right field
line to deep right center field to ap
proximately 23 feet.
W h at effect w ill this have on
home runs and the way the game is
played? Manager Rene Lacheman
answers, " I t is going to help our
pitchers from the standpoint that
they know they can get by w ith a
mistake. They are not going to give
up as many cheap home runs. This
game is so m ental, it has to help.
Our outfielders will have to learn to
play the angles o ff the wall, much in
the way they do at Fenway Park.”
In each o f the last three seasons,
more home runs have been hit in the
M ariners’ home than in any other
park in the major leagues. When the
round trippers around both leagues
are tallied , we again find that the
total in the past four seasons is tops
in Seattle. The other most produc
tive home run parks have been Fen
way in Boston, Tiger Stadium in De
troit, and Atlanta Stadium.
As the chart shows, only Boston
fans have witnessed more home
ner fans in the Kingdome.
City
Seattle
Boston
Detroit
Atlanta
Last
Last
Last
3 years 4 years Byears
460
611
789
432
598
817
434
586
767
394
570
778
Spring training 1982 is less than a
m onth away. For the M arin ers it
will be the biggest (55 player) and
earliest (Feb. 18) in club history. A
to,a: o f 15 players have been invited
to Tempe, A riz., by Manager Rene
Lachem ann to jo in the 40 on the
major league roster.
The a d d itio n a l players include
pitchers Bob Galasso, Tracy Harris,
M ike Moore, Roy Thomas, Ed Van-
deBerg and M a tt Young; catchers
Jerry Narron. Gary Gray, Jamie A l
len and Vance M cH enry; and o u t
fielders Rod A lle n , John M oses,
Casey Parsons, Steve Stroughter
and Reggie Walton.
Pitchers and catchers will check
in to Tem pe D ia b lo Stadium on
Thursday, February 18, and work
ou, on February 19. The balance o f
the squad will report February 25
and take the field on February 26.
Trivia: How many players in the
1982 Mariner spring camp were also
in the club’s first spring training in
1977?
Answer: 4— Glenn A bbott, Julio I
Cruz, Bob Galasso and Roy Thom
as.
Some boxers are resisting a New
Y o rk regulation that requires a
thumbless boxing glove. A t the first
New York boxing card, on January
22nd, boxers com plained that the
gloves are not c o m fo rta b le , that
their wrists hurt, that they cannot
spin their opponents by gouging
th e ir thumbs in to their ribs, that
they cannot pu ll up their trunks
without thumbs.
Impetus for the new regulations
came through cooperation between
New Y ork State and Quebec. This
came about because no one had no
ticed that Willie Classen had taken a
severe beating in London six weeks
»nor to his fatal fight in Madison
Square Garden in 1979. N o bo d y
knew C leveland D enny had been
soundly beaten by a heavier sparring
partner days before his fatal bout in
dontreal in 1980.
As part o f the research by Quebec
ollow ing D enny’ s death, Quebec
discovered that different makes o f
¡loves were vastly d iffe re n t even
hough their weights were the same.
Some gloves are hard and flat at the
point o f impact, while others have
tick padding.
The Quebec Board, after studying
xtensive research done at W ayne
tate University, concluded, “ The
mobility o f the thumb has also bee
identified as a source o f in ju ry .’
The Board concluded th a t, “ T h
gloves should have the fo llo w in
characteristics: be as light as pos
sible, have a maximim o f absorben
material at the point o f impact, an<
a minimum o f roughness and seams
They should not have thumbs, fo
better protection o f the boxers
thumbs and eyes.”
New York also has been studying
thumbless gloves for several years
led by Floyd Patterson, now a stat<
commissioner. His two brothers suf
fered detached retinas during their
boxing careers. New York State has
had nine incidents o f detached
retinas in two years.
New Y o rk boxing commission
chairman Jack Prenderville ordered
use o f the thumbless glove, de
veloped by Everlast, to be used in all
non-title fights beginning January
15th.
Additional New York-Quebec co
operation includes trading informa
tion on safety standards, issuing
identical passports to all boxers, and
computer linkage that assures that
no boxer can be knocked out in New
York and then slip into Quebec for a
match until his health is certified.
r
C o m e A n d V is it O u r
N E W L O C A T IO N
Bozeman explains 'problem'
W e’re getting
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This brand new Farmers
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If not, com e in for a sample
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Last December James Bozeman
left the F lo rid a State basketball
team. He was prepared to take his
damaged knee and damaged ankle
and disappear q u ietly from the
school basketball scene. He decided
that he would take his injuries to his
own d o cto r, rath er than take the
drugs he says the basketball office
was pushing at him.
Joe W illia m s , F lo rid a S ta te ’s
basketball coach said Boseman had
left the team because o f “ personal
problems ’ . This statement forced
Bozeman to p u blicly let people
know the kind o f “ problem s” he
was having.
James
Bozem an’ s personal
problems including pride, curiosity,
and the will to succeed put him at
odds w ith the ethics o f big-tim e
college sports.
" I want to graduate and work in
F lo rid a . I knew I would have
trouble getting a job close to home
i f people really believed I have
personal problem s. T h at is why I
wrote the letter,” Boseman said.
B ozem an’ s le tte r,
charging
Flordia State's athletic department
with im proper medical attention,
fin an c ial e x p lo ita tio n , m ental
harassm ent,
academic
and
scholastic misrepresentation” adds
to the evergrowing impression that
college athletics are out o r control in
this country.
Bozeman's most specific charge
was that basketball o ffic ia ls at
Florida Slate injected his ankle with
novocain
and cortisone last
summer. They d id n ’ t give me any
program fo r the leg in the o f f
season.”
W ith boosters taking over the
h irin g o f coaches and buying all
kinds o f illegal favors for athletes,
and with rival athletic associations
fighting tooth and nail for television
money the ideal o f the student-
athlete has never seemed more
distant.
“ Students would only talk to me
about
b a s k e tb a ll,”
Bozeman
recalled yesterday. "They acted as if
I were different from them. Players
got to feel that if you didn’t get into
pro basketball, you had failed."
A 6-5 senior fro m Tallahassee,
Bozeman was regarded as Florida
State's top senior going into this.
Now he is a former player eager to
help other athletes through an outfit
based in the South Bronx — the
Center fo r A th le te s ’ Rights and
Education.
The Center is sponsored by the
N ational Football League Players
Association and the N atio n al
C onference o f Black Lawyers —
w ith even a grant from the
D epartm ent o f E duction — the
Center has proposed a Bill of Rights
for college athletes.
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