, y ì r,a; -, .^ ¿ j v' >•» -■ t-r*.-'.-. Portland Observer, April 6, 1983 Page 9 Sports influence U.S. life Successful season for OSU Equal opportunities In sports The 1982-85 season was the most successful in the history of women's basketball at Oregon State Univer­ sity, but coach Aki H ill is spending little time basking in the limelight. H ill and her assistant coaches are busy recruiting as the April 15 letter- of-intent day draws ever nearer OSU finished the season at 24-6, the most victories ever for a Beaver team in women's basketball. Hill led the Beavers to the Northern Pacific Athletic Conference championship in the league's inaugural year, then guided OSU past U C L A in the first round of the N C A A playoffs. It was Oregon Stale's first victory ever at nationals, though OSU has a pair of N atio n al W om en's In v ita tio n a l Tournament championships. Long Beach State pul an end to the OSU season w ith a 97-72 win over the Beavers in the West R egional! at Pauley Pavilion on the U C L A cam­ pus. " I think we did just rig h t," H ill reflected. "T h a t was our target, to win the league championship and play in one or two national games. That was what we wanted. The gen­ eral character of the Beavers is that we were team-oriented. We didn't have great depth from the bench." H ill said her team did not play Women and blacks have realized advance! in the sports w orld , ac­ cording to the report, but for both there appear to be inequities. Tw o of three Americans (66 percent) be­ lieve sports o ffer more opportun­ ities for blacks than are available in other fields, but 56 percent feel black youths spend too much time on sports. Are sports free o f racism? Most respondents (52 percent) say not, but SI percent of those ages 14 and older believe whites, blacks and other minorities participating to ­ gether on sports teams helps integra­ tion and reduces tension in other areas o f life . Equal numbers o f blacks, whiles, men and women ex­ press this view. Signs o f im proving equality in sports include findings that: •Most Americans believe boys (95 percent) and girls (86 percent) should participate in sports. •A lm ost nine o f 10 (86 percent) say they would be happy i f their daughters became professional ath­ letes •T w o o f three respondents (both sexes) say they are equally interested in men’s and women's competition. i particu larly well in the N orPac championship game, but she could sense a feeling before O S U 's first N C A A p la y o ff game against U C LA " In that first national game, the team had real m o tiv a tio n — you could see i t , ” H ill said. " T h a t is what made me most happy, because I knew then that they didn't need me anymore, and they even left me at the motel! It makes me feel good, though, when the team reaches that certain level." One team on a different level was Long Beach State OSU could find no answer fo r 49er superstar LaTaunya Pollard, who poured in 55 points in the Beavers' final game. The 49ers simply had too much quickness overall for O S U . which got a fine performance from Judy Spoelstra, who had a season-high 26 points on 12 of 17 from the field Hill now faces the task of replac­ ing Spoelstra, Robyn Clark and Jan Martin, all of whom have completed their eligibility. It will be a major re­ building jo b —M artin at center, and C lark and Spoelstra at forw ards, combined for more than half of the Beavers' points and rebounds this year. "O u r recruiting priority is defin­ itely in the front lin e ,” H ill said "This will be a survival year for us. We also need quickness. A ll o f the top teams— U C L A , Texas— are switching from a power game to quickness. Strength is still respect­ ed, hut quickness has become more important And we are falling be­ hind." Raveling leaves WSU staff George Raveling, Pac-10 coach of the year, has announced that he will leave W ashington Slate to accept the head coach position at the U n i­ versity of Iowa. In his 11 years at W SU. Raveling has won 167 and lost 156, taking teams to N C A A tournaments twice. This year's team had a 14 4 rec­ ord for a second place w in, one game behind U C l A. They lost to Virginia in the second round of the N C A A tournament. Raveling replaces Lute O lson, who moved to the University of A ri­ zona Raveling's salary is reported to be approximately $200,000 a year for five years. Fifty-four percent of U.S. sports fans ssy fights between players, where there Is no Injury, lessen their enjoyment of the geme. VIRGINIA SLIMS (Continued fro m page I coJumn 6) ericans say violence is a serious problem in sports todav. and 75 per­ similar levels of interest in sports are cent feel it is harm ful to children. happier together, according to John Conversely, 14 percent admit that Crothers, Pollock, P h .D ., senior they enjoy watching fights among editor of the report and president of players. The issue of drugs in sports Research & Forecasts, Inc. ‘ ‘ A l ­ drew strong response. M any o f though most Americans (57 percent) those surveyed would prefer s tiff believe sports have no impact on penalties for regular users o f hard fam ily life, those with shared high drugs. Two o f five recommended re­ levels o f interest believe sports bring moval from a team o f full-season families closer together." suspensions for violators. The report indicates a strong fo- A m ajority (76 percent) believes , cus on children's physical activities, professional athletes are overpaid, with the following conclusions: y j yet almost half (48 percent) say ath­ ♦Three o f fo u r paredtx (75 per­ letes should be allowed to strike. cent) encotffuge children to partici­ pate in sports and engage in athletic Oaydreemlng le common activities with their children. Sports influence is pervasive, ac­ •M o re than nine o f 10 parents cording to findings in the L ite (92 percent) believe competition is Sports Report. One of three (54 per­ good for children because it teaches cent) persons daydreams about ath­ them to strive to do their best. letic success, and one in five (22 per­ •M o re than eight o f 10 (82 per­ cent) would choose to be a profes­ cent) agree that p articip ation in sional athlete rather than a famous sports by youth would greatly re­ movie star, internationally known duce crime. scientist or statesman. Although support for children’s W atching sports also generates activities is high, 86 percent of par­ some fantasizing. Almost h alf (45 ents believe that organized sports percent) o f the public feel they could for youth place too much emphasis perform as well as the players if they on winning and not enough on phy­ had the right train ing . Alm ost a sical an psychological development. third (50 percent) believe they could MOre than 90 percent of the leader­ do better jobs than the coaches or ship group— coaches, sports doc­ managers. tors and journalists—expressed sim­ Most Americans (69 percent) have ilar views. a favorite athlete—especially men. It is not surprising that the favorite Madia coverage critiqued athlete is most often male (89 per­ M ore than a fourth (28 percent) cent), but 78 percent of women also o f Am ericans believe there is too choose male athletes, compared to much sports coverage on television, 98 percent of men Although a ma­ although large m ajo rities say jority of blacks and whites o f both women’s events do not receive ade- sexes choose someone of their own quate coverage in newspapers and race as a favorite athlete, only 10 on television. percent say race is an important fac­ Three of five (60 percent) of Am- tor in their choices. - Vbu’vecom e long way, baby VIRO n IA SLIMS 7 »• Menthol and Lights Menthol The first televisin broadcasts were made in England in 1927 and in the U .S. in 1930, but regular broadcast­ ing did not begin until 1939 in New York City. Cats are unable to taste sweet food. The 15th century Inca system of relay runners moved messages across their South American empire at a rate of 150 miles a day. C I The English of the 15th to 17th centuries believed thB color red was helpful to the sick. Patients were dressed in red nightgowns and surrounded with-red ob­ jects. We d o jw d o business with South Africa l.p M «lis In. |v* 1 Warning The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. American State Bank AN M OCrCNOCMT SANK Menthol 100‘s 15 mg tar' 1 0 mg nicotine— lights Menthol 100's Heed Office 2757 N. C. Union Portland, Oregon 97212 9 mg ter? 0 7 mg nicotine n per cigarette by rtC method n ra e : ** • - C - »< .-* i* • *,•<