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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1982)
Sport Talk by Ron Sykes, Sports Editor Dwight Braxton, newly crowned light-heavyw eight cham pion, was recently saluted by N B C as their sportman o f today. Appearing with host Bryant Bumbci, the 3-6 boxer and ex-convict was honored for his work in the community. Braxton, from Camden, N J . just recently opened a campaign to help youngsters to stay in school. “ I just want to show people that there is another side to m e,'* beamed the cham p. “ Boxing has allow ed me this chance and I owe it to the game and m yself to give something back.“ .The Observer salutes Dwight Braxton and wishes him well in his next month’s title defense. The W ashington Huskies have shocked the nation by pulling o ff two o f the top prep players in the country. Tailback Kevin Wilhite and tackle James F itzp a tric k , two o f the na tion's most-sought-after prep play ers. . .each has verbally committed that they will join Coach Don James in Seattle. W ilhite, who comes from Sacra mento’s football hotbed’s Cordova H igh, reportedly made his decision Sunday after returning from a week end visit to the U W campus. The 6 -1 , 200-pounder, who scored 33 touchdowns and gained 2,631 yards in two years at Cordova had narrowed his choices to Wash ington and Oregon before deciding on the Huskies. I f anyone has ever doubted the recruiting a b ility o f Rich Brooks then his effo rts here should s w iftly dispel all such thoughts. Oregon is on probation fo r two years, yet Brooks came close to grabbing o f f both W ilh ite and James Fitzpatrick. F itz p a tric k , a 6 -8 , 260-pound giant, visited Seattle on M onday. The Beaverton A ll-A m e ric a in d i cated to the local press that U .W . was his choice although he would probably visit USC on the weekend. W ilh ite , whose older brother Oerald was an outstanding running back at San Jose this past fall, has already twice been named the na tio n al high school player o f the year, initially by Parade Magazine and just recently by D ial Corpora tion. A cousin o f fo rm er N F L great Oale Sayers, W ilh ite is also the de fending state cham p in the 200- meter dash and was clocked last year in a fast 9.3 100-yard dash. It is interesting to note that both Wilhite and Fitzpatrick attended numerous U W Rose Bowl practices. shouldn't be w anting me. A t that weight he should be going a fte r Larry Holmes.” Duran, at the advice o f his train ers, moved to the mountains o f Pan am a, where he could escape the bright lights and fast women that plagued him most o f his career. He trained diligently with only Leonard No mas! N o masl And with that in mind. famous statement went the once-in- Roberto took a tune-up fight at vincible Roberto D uran . The leg 163 pounds to test his stamina. He endary hands o f stone, the once quickly learned against a nobody proud fighter from Panama, whom that the old d o u t wasn’t there. He many called the greatest lightweight won an unpopular decision and that ever lived, was reduced to a went quickly back to the gym, with paper tiger on that memorable night visions o f Leonard still dancing in in Las Vegas when Sugar Ray Leon his head. ard, who is the best fighter in the Meanwhile Sugar Ray was train world today, reduced D u ran ’s im ing fo r Thomas H earns. W h ile age on that hot summer night. D u ra n ’ s m ind was obsessed w ith D uran announced his retirem ent Leonard, Sugar Ray thought only o f that evening, but later changed his his next o p p o n e n t.. .th e D e tro it m ind. His vendetta was to chase “ hit m a n .” A fte r disposing o f Leonard until he could once again Hearns in a grueling 14 rounds get him into the ring. He (D u ra n ) Leonard decided to relax for a short wanted to show the w o rld , as he time. But Duran still in pursuit o f says, that Sugar Ray was a sissy. his dream continued to pursue the R oberto started his comeback welterweight champ. weighing 183 pounds, which W ith both the N B A and N B C prompted Leonard to crack, “ He titles in his hip pocket Ray Leonard Oregon State a strong tournament team The O S U Beavers, currently ranked among the nation’s top ten basketball teams, are fast becoming the scourge o f the west coast. The 15-3 Beavers came back Saturday night to trounce a good Southern Cal team after dropping a tough 74- 68 contest to the U C L A Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. U C L A had to get season highs from Kenny Fields (23 pts.) and Mike Sanders (29 pts.) and still the game never got out o f reach. The always tough Beavers refused to bend under the pressure o f Pauley and if not for some sensational play from the entire Bruins team , the m iller’ s men certainly would have emerged the victors. The Beavers are currently tied at 8-1 with the surprising Washington Huskies. Left on the OSU schedule is this weekend’ s visit to Corvallis by the Bay area teams C a lifo rn ia and Stanford. O SU should have little trouble with this pair and should delight the Dad’s weekend party by taking both teams easily. February 13 the Orange express rolls into Eugene to take on the hapless Ducks. One has to won der just how much more adversity this university can withstand. As if things weren’t already bad enough with Coach Jim Haney’s program. It was learned yesterday the redshirt team member John Cheatham has been arrested on an attempted first- degree burglary charge. Cheatham, a 20-year-old sophomore is current ly sitting out the season on academic deficiency problems. A fte r Oregon the Beavers must ready themselves for the Feb. 18 date at Seattle then on Saturday af ternoon they must lake on George Raveling in the always tough Pal ouse country. The following week end it doesn’ t get any easier as U C L A and USC fly into town. The Beavers close the regular season M arch 3 and 6 on the road at A ri zona and Arizona State. M ake no doubts even though they’re young this Beaver team is as good or better than last year’s 26-2 team. Freshman A .C . G reen, chosen last night at the annual H ayw ard awards banquet as the stale’ s top prep player, has added stability and strong rebounding to this year’ s Beavers. Sophomore Charlie Sitton, 6-8, center is making me eat crow. Sitton has been outstanding since moving to the middle. And if your young man from M cM innville were a couple inches taller the N B A would soon witness the second com ing o f a Bill W alton. Yes, Charlie does possess (hose kinds o f talents. Lester Conner and William Brew at tack everything in sight and sopho more Dan Evans drills 15-footers like a wildcat oil man. This is a Beaver team that could make it to the elite final four. They will finish no worse than 20- 4. was content. But not R oberto Duran. This Duran had known ad versities all his life . H e grew up a street urchin in the ghettos o f Pan ama C ity. He met tough challenges every day as he tried to eke out a liv ing for his mother and himself. He w o u ld n ’ t let L e o n a rd ’ s success bother him. His pursuit was relent less. In his quest to conquer Leonard he decided he needed one s tiff chal lenge. His followers disagreed w ith his choice o f one W ilfre d o Benitez. Those close to him advised that W il fredo was too tough. That if he was to Tight a tough fight, then take on Leonard and get the payday. Duran won the argum ent and signed to fig h t B enitez, a fig h te r who took Leonard 13 tough rounds, who many believe to be nearly as great as Sugar R ay. Benitez is the classic boxer, elusive, in te llig e n t, and a great counter-puncher. On January 30th from Caesar’ s Palace in Las Vegas, a myth came to an end. W il fredo Benitez gave Duran a boxing lesson on this night. Benitez was in total control as he punished the ex champ over 15 rounds. When it was over Duran refused to shake hands in the traditional manner. Thus showing that he was as sorry in defeat as he was great in victory. The legend has ended! Jim Saul, a 4 2-ye ar-o ld form er backstop w ith the Beavers, was selected M onday as the next P o rt land skipper. Beaver O eneral M anager Dave Hersh also announced that former Cy Young winner Vernon Law will be the team ’ s first pitching coach and Tom Trebelhorn, a coach from last year, was retired. W ith M o n d ay’ s announcements the Beaver staff is now complete. In an interview with the Observer, when asked by this reporter, “ W hy can’t the Beavers attract more Black fans,” Hersh simply replied, “ You know we were just discussing that last Saturday.” The answer is obvious Dave. One only has to look at the current Bea ver roster and coaching staff. While not lily i t ’ s a larm in g ly close to being. Portland doesn’t need an all- Black baseball team , but a little som ething to id e n tify w ith and I think the Black com m unity would respond. Do you agree? I f you do - or if you don’t -- let us know . W rite : Sports, P o rtla n d Observer. Box 3137, P o rtla n d 97208. Here's your ticket to ride! RAMBO MOTORS, INC. In the world's Number One im port—Toyota. 307 N .E. B roadw ay Portland, Oregon 97232 Phone (503) 284-1106 D O N N Y A N DERSO N And for the past ten years D onny A nderson has followed that example selling them. 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But according to U .S . government estimates and Salvadoran sources, the guerilla force o f 4,000 to 6,000 troops, plus peasant militia support ers, has remained at fu ll strength during the past year, replacing sub stantial casualties with new troops. The government force o f about 20,000 in the army and three smaller security forces also has remained stable, despite claims by govern ment officials and the U .S. govern ment that it must be at least doubled to reach the 10-to-l ratio o f super iority which counter-insurgency ex perts consider necessary to win the war. The entrenched guerrilla presence in U sulutan Is a strong indlcatin th a t, in addition to the stalemated war in the n o rth , the government has been unable to prevent the F M L N from expanding its position in new areas. Guerrilla leaders have said the camp was established last M a y . They declined to say how many troops are under M edrano’ s command in the southwestern zone. The guerrillas, giving dates and places that generally agree with o ffi cial m ilita ry reports, said they had launched attacks involving as many as 300 troops against the Usulutan garrison, the naval port o f La Union on the G u lf o f Fonseca, separating El Salvador from N icaragua, and several other cities in the zone. U n lik e the northern provinces, Usulutan is a rich farming area, and its large peasant population has not been displaced into refugee camps by the fighting. The area also is stra tegic because it lies along the coastal highway, the second most important artery in the country, and the guer rillas* access to the seacoast p ro vides ample opportunity to receive supplies by boat. The picture o f guerrilla life her is far from the rom antic notion o f “ liberated te rrito ry .” The Salva doran armed forces, w ith vastly superior numbers, heavy artillery, napalm and helicopter gunships, can overrun the area at w ill. They did so last October in an attack by forces including the elite A tlacatl Brigade. The ruins o f a form er school destroyed by a ir bom bard ment and farmers* huts burned to the ground were visible around the guerilla camp. But the guerillas returned to their old positions a fte r three weeks, when the government forces w ith drew from the area. The guerrilla leaders exhibited pride that they had held o f f the elite brigade for six days. They showed rem arkable re spect for the fighting ability o f the U .S .-tra in e d counterinsurgency unit. added that prisoners were givei M edrano said the F M L N had medical treatment i f necessary and gone through a period o f “ defensive released unharmed after a few days. resistance” following the failed Jan Independent sources with access uary offensive, during which they to intelligence in fo rm atio n con concentrated on retaining existing firm ed M ed ra n o ’ s id en tity. M e positions, training and “ recovering drano said he was a leader o f the arms and, o f course, obtaining arms guerrilla organization, the Revolu anywhere, in any way, from buying tionary Army o f the People (E R P ), them elsewhere to buying them from and a member o f the Unified Revo the [Salvadoran] officers them lu tio n ary D irectorate, the policy selves.” making board o f the guerrilla coali Tactically, he said, they attempt tion that includes four other organi to keep the government troops tied zations. down and dispersed throughout the The interview was preceded by a country by g uerrilla sabotage at display o f marching and a fo rm a tacks on electric power lines and tion o f a seven-man squad in full other essential parts o f the econ uniform , including olive-drab ber om y. Since then, especially since ets. They were armed w ith M -16s, O ctober, he said, his troops have which seem to be the g u errillas’ gained the capability to move about standard weapon. the country in large units and to Later three separate columns o f make incursions during the day into troops marched by single file up the medium-size cities. steep path to the camp, exhaustion On Oct. 13, during a m ajor gov from the day’s practice maneuvers ernment offensive, F M L N com showing in their faces. Most were mandos from the Usulutan area dy armed. In addition, we saw dozens namited the key Do Oro suspension o f peasant men w ith auto m atic bridge on the coastal highway, in weapons. They were described as what is considered the most signifi militia who do not go on battle mis cant guerrilla blow to the military in sions but guard the civilian popula the war. Medrano said that in some tion. attacks on small outposts they have M ilitia m e n were seen p u ttin f been able to overrun enemy posi groups o f about 30 young girls ant tions and capture prisoners and 60 young boys through m ilita r) weapons. marching and gun drill. The guerril "S in ce December we have re las had made no e ffo rt to camou covered almost as many weapons as flage the camp building we saw, nor in all o f last y e a r,” he said. He did they urge us to secrecy. WE'RE HERETO HELP YOU! ALAN M OLDEN Sate Arpnramiaritr W EN DELL B R O W N Sate R tp m tn ta iiw Expert consultation on your transportation needs on both new and used cars. ROW TONKIN CHEVROLET-HONDA CO 122 N .E . 1 2 2 n d A v e . OwtlttneWey THE ONLY DFALER
