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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1982)
Page 8 Portland Observer, September 22, 1982 Sport Talk ¿tùlplfs HnUyüuwfr flo ris t by Ron Sykes, Sports Editor îflü û w r s ( H jr t n n I n YA W S R esta u r a n t The N ational Football League players association angrily decided they no longer could put up with the status quo and went on strike Tues day morning. What are we going to do? How w ill the poor fo o tb a ll freaks sur vive? The fans I mean. When the players decided to strike did they really realize what it would do to m illio ns o f fans throughout the U.S.? Did they stop to consider how poor Joe Blow will spend those cold Sunday mornings w ith no NFL football on the tube? Did the striking players just once consider the wrist exercise poor Joe Fan w ill miss on those uneventful Sunday mornings? That exercise be ing the flip p in g o f the TV knob from 6 to 8, and then back again. Well, anyway as glum as the situa tion may seem there is some bright ness. That brightness being the eyes of the many wives across the nation who w ill now have their hubbies fo r company on Sunday morning and again on Monday night. And wowie! W on’ t we all miss Howie? W ith all the dickering and negotia ting over 1.8 billion here and 55 mil lion there, w ouldn’ t it have been great if someone had only thought of the poor, lonesome fans? MICHAEL SPINKS It seems that every two months or so lightheavy champ Michael Spinks bounces into the ring and belts some less-than-average challenger into submission. Spinks can’ t be blamed for being champion o f a division that has very few w orthy challengers. And one has to believe that it ’s hurting the champion by not meeting better com petition. So, how can one fly like an eagle after setting w ith a bunch of Turkeys all day. Michael does certainly run the risk o f lowering his own abilities. If not lowering, then certainly not growing. So, what does one do in Spinks* situation? Michael has yet to achieve his true potential. And in order to do so he must get in against some stiff competition. Tough fights are what makes fighters grow, i.e ., A li-F ra zie r, Leonard-Hearns and Robinson-La- Motta. So far Mike Spinks has had nothing in this class. The closest be ing his championship victory over Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Last Saturday it was Johnny Da vis. He became another in that long line o f dubious challengers. Davis was tough, that is for three rounds, after that it was ju st a matter o f time. His exit at 1:07 o f the ninth was exactly the same route followed by S pinks’ last opponent, Jerry Celestine, if you care to use the term "o p p o n e n t” lig h tly . Celestine, another o f those ex-cons that now choose to get rich quick through pro-boxing, made his exit at 1:58 of the eighth round exactly eight weeks ago. Spinks fought his usual lacka daisical style in the early rounds against Davis. Michael entered the ring weighing 173 !6, and during the first three rounds allowed Davis to push him around at w ill. In the third, Davis provided the only sur prise o f the afternoon when he caught Michael w alking in to a straight right hand that dazed the champion. For just a second it looked like Davis might have a chance to finish him , but M ichael’ s eyes soon cleared and Spinks boxed his way out o f it. That was to be the only highlight for Davis, a man who has the honor o f being the only man ever to defeat Dwight Braxton in the ring. Spinks’ next fight w ill hope fully be with the hard-pressing Brax ton to unify the lightheavyweight d i vision. That one my friends will be a test for the hard hitting Spinks. Prom oter Butch Lewis has an nounced the signing of the event and the site will be announced at a later date. Former L .A . Dodger Glenn Burke, featured in the October issue o f Inside Sports, talked openly as being gay w hile a member o f the Dodgers. Burke. 29, who is black, who was also interview'd by N B C ’ s Bryan Gumbel where he spoke openly o f his affinity for men. Burke was the 17th player drafted by the Dodgers in 1972, but played well enough to make it to the big team by 1976. Burke revealed to Gumbel that he kept his sexual preference to himself while a member o f the Dodgers. But during his o ff days he participated freely in the gay community. It is ru mored that the soft-spoken Burke was very popular among his team mates, but was traded when the fro n t o ffic e found out the tru th . Burke was traded to Oakland in of cleats, just might be returning soon baseball Glenn became a member o f Oakland’s world champion softball team. another $200,000 to his already earned $900,000 salary this year. Very interesting. And how about Raider rookie Marcus Allen? Everyone knew that the ex-Trojan back was good, but who could have believed this great. In an impressive debut Marcus ripped o ff 116 yards and one TD rushing and another 64 yards pass receiving. And a ll this against (he world champion San Francisco 49ers. Then last Sunday he erupted for 56 yards rushing against A tlanta, but most impressive o f all was his pass receiving. A llen caught one touchdown pass, a total o f four on the day. And to add insult to injury he threw a 47 yard pass to C lift Branch. Experts arc already comparing Allen as the next O.J. Simpson. 2005 N.E. 40th Portland, OR 97212 249-1888 We Deliver Anywhere brought to you every week by AM ERICAN STATE BANK The average human has about 12 pints of blood in his body. O ddly eno ugh, the sm allest U .S . state has the longest official name: The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. • O .J. Simpson, one o f the best running backs ever to lace on a pair o f cleats, just might be returning soon to professional football. No, not as a player, but as a franchise owner in the new USFL. Reggie Jackson, the one called M r. October, but this year adding the titles o f Mr. June, July, August and September, is certainly riding high. For every ticket sold in the re maining Angels games Reggie w ill receive 50 cents per ticket. Jackson is expecting to tack on Mariners announced that they have set Saturday, September 25th as their fan appreciation night. As a special guest entertainer, the Mariners have arranged fo r the famed San Diego checker to fly in for an appearance for the fans. The one millionth Mariner fan of 1982 w ill pass through the King- dome turnstiles this weekend, and the Mariners w ill recognize that lucky fan by awarding him/her two season tickets for 1983. Amazingly, there was once an iceberg found in the South Pacific Ocean that was bigger than the whole country of Belgium. We do j o t do buaineas with South Africa. American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Ottica 2737 N. E. 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