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Portland Observer. November 21, 1984, Page 9
by Roy Lee Jemigan
Sports Editor
• SPORT TALK • SPORT TALK •
I he Breakers are coming to P o rt
land and I ’ m hoping fo r a new look
and a few changes, the changes that
I want to see are not just restricted
to the p la y in g fie ld , e ith e r. In the
N F L there is only one Black q u a r
terback and no Black head coaches.
M a jo r league baseball has no Black
m anagers as o f this w ritin g . N B A
b ask etb all has tw o Black head
coaches and tw o Black assistant
cbaches. These sp o rting m o n o p o
lies have one glaring similarity: they
do not hire people o f color in m an
agem ent positions. A l D a vis, L .A .
raider owner has the only H ispanic
coach in all three m a jo r sports.
Break the m old, Breakers, and put
some people o f c o lo r in yo u r new
offices.
Since Jackie Robinson forged the
way in 1947, m a jo r league sports
have been dom inated by players o f
c o lo r, but no progress has been
made in front office positions. Take
a loo k at the T r a ilB la z e r press
guide and tell me this is 1984. W ally
Scales is the only representative o f a
m in o rity race listed under ad m in is
tra tio n . L a rry Steels and Dave
T w a rd z ik , fo rm e rly m arginal p lay
ers at best, are in fro n t o ffic e p o
sitions on the Blazer staff. Remem
ber fo rm e r Blazers L lo y d N e a l,
LaRue M a rtin . Leroy Ellis and Greg
S m ith ? These players all re tired
rig h t here in P o rtla n d and lo o ked
for w o r k .. . . enough said!
W h ite college coaches come into
p ro b ask etb all w ith ease and take
head coaching positions fro m f o r
mer players both black and w hite.
Jim L yn am came in to the league a
few years ago on Jack Ram sey's
co a tta ils and in no tim e at a ll he
replaced Paul Silas as head coach o f
the Clippers. Lynam could not read
the book that Silas can w rite about
p ro b as k e tb a ll. K .C . Jones and
John Thom pson o f G eorgetown U .
have proven that form er Black play
ers can coach and w in . B illy C u n
n in g ham o f the 76ers got his shot
w ith no p rio r experience in coach
ing, didn’ t he?
F o rm e r T ra ilB la z e r assistant
coach Jack M cK in n ey retired fro m
coaching yesterday and was prom pt
ly replaced by P h il Jo h nson , w ho
has been an assistant coach for the
U ta h J a zz. Johnson was fire d as
the Kansas C ity Kings coach during
the 1977-1978 season but now he
goes back with a three-year contract
to replace M cK in n ey. B urnout was
cited as the reason fo r M cK in n ey's
re tire m e n t. T ry in g to teach p o in t
guard and pow er fo rw a rd to co m
plete b a ll players w o u ld burn out
any college coach. A n d th at's what
M c K in n e y was, a college coach.
Black assistant coaches Fred C arter
and Bernie Bickerstaff never stood a
chance o f landing the jo b at Kansas
C ity.
Be d iffe re n t. Breakers, and s ta ff
yo u r o ffic es w ith people o f co lo r
and show w hat te a m w o rk re ally
means. D o n 't move your players to
L ake Osw ego and aw ay fro m your
hosts, dare to be d iffe re n t and be
com e pioneers in yo u r new hom e.
D o n 't fire C o u ry but just in case he
does fa lte r , keep an open m ind
when considering a replacement.
Black prom oter
embarrasses
anti-apartheid group
B oxing p ro m o te r D o n K in g has
em barrassed an a n ti-a p a rth e id
group to which he belongs by help
ing to send a h eavyw eig ht c h a m
p io n sh ip fig h te r to B o p h u th a ts-
w an a. acco rd in g to fo rm e r tennis
star and group co-chairm an A rth u r
Ashe.
G errie Coetzee o f South A fric a is
scheduled to defend his W B A title
against G reg Page, a black A m e r
ican, in Sun C ity December I. King,
a Black p ro m o te r fro m New Y o rk
w ho had agreem ents w ith both
C oetzee and Page sold the p ro m o
tional rights to Sol Kerzner o f South
A frica for more than $1 m illion.
" W e ’ ve been very successful in
c o n vin c in g Black athletes and en-
says addressing the to p ic: " W h a t
M ak es M e Feel G o o d A b o u t M y
s e lf.” T h e P o rtlan d C o u ncil o f the
In te rn a tio n a l Reading Association
has prepared a seven to ten-day les
son p la n designed to p rep are stu
dents for the writing project.
T w o tickets w ill be aw a rd ed to
student-authors as first, second and
third place awards at each grade lev
el. The judging will be conducted by
members o f the Portland Council o f
the reading association. A ll aw ard
w inners w ill receive au to g rap h e d
TrailB lazer basketballs.
K ing, w ho paid the fees to have
the C oetzee-P age fig h t sanctioned
by the W B A , to ld the New Y o rk
Times:
" I ' m against a p a rth e id to d a y,
and I was against a p a rth e id yes
terday. I'm not going to South A f
rica. A ll I did was sell my rig h ts ."
F ran klin W illiam s, president o f the
P h elps-S tokes fu n d in New Y o rk
and a leading a n ti-a p a rth e id a c ti
vist, told the Tim es that K ing’s sale
o f his rights was the same as i f he
was staging the bout himself.
just what you want—
Wrestling sponsors
needed now
T h e P eninsula W res tlin g C lu b is
a n o n -p ro fit, tax-exem pt o rg an iza
tio n registered w ith the O re g o n
C o rp o ra tio n C o m m issio n . A ll d o
n atio n s to the C lu b a re (ax d e
d u c tib le . T h e clu b serves young
people ages 6 -1 8 fro m a variety o f
backgrounds, ranging fro m inn er-
c ity to su b u rb an yo u ths. F ro m its
A d d itio n a lly , first place winners
b e g in n in g in the e a rly 1970s. the
w ill atte n d a B lazer p ractice ses
clu b has focused on d eve lo p in g a
sion and have lunch with star Blazer
p o s itiv e m e n ta l a ttitu d e am on g
fo rw ard , K ik i Vandew eghe, who is
young boys to keep th em o f f the
ch airm an o f the " W r it e O n " p ro
streets and to channel their energies
gram . F irst an d second place w in
into more constructive pursuits.
ners w ill also to u r the T ra ilB la z e r
T h e P en in s u la W re s tlin g C lu b
locker room .
p ro gram has co n trib u ted substan
tia lly to the develop m ent o f these
" T h e B A S IC program is an o u t
boys both physically and m entally.
stand ing ex am p le o f how p riv a te
Through practicing and competing,
enterprise can play a leadership role
the boys learn to develop the skills
in shaping the fu tu re o f o u r c o m
and c o o rd in a tio n necessary fo r
m u n ity ,” say H e n ry H illm a n J r ..
m any p hysical a c tiv itie s in life .
C E O and C h airm an for A V IA A th
M en tally they learn to interact with
letic Shoes.
their peers regardless o f cultural or
economic background, to teach and
" W it h B A S IC , the T ra ilB la ze rs
learn from others, and to make de
and A V I A have pioneered an ave
cisions and th in k under pressure.
nue through which those o f us in the
T h e w res tlin g p ro g ra m also gives
business o f sports can m ake a
the boys an in valu ab le measure o f
unique con tribu tion to our kids and
self-confidence and personal pride
th eir a b ility to excel, or even just
by d eve lo p in g s k ills , c o m p e tin g ,
survive. W e are demonstrating that
p ersevering in the face o f in itia l
sports can provide the extra m otiva
fa ilu r e , and fin a lly achieving suc
tio n a l tools needed to m a ke the
cess. F ro m its b eg in n in g the p r o
difference fo r a lot o f our k id s ," he
gram has placed an equal emphasis
says.
on acad em ic ach ievem en t as w ell
as a th le tic c o m p e titio n . A m a jo r
The deadline for essays to be sub
requirement for participating in the
m itted is D ecem b er 15. Interested
p ro g ra m is to a tte n d school on a
students should contact their teach
regular basis.
ers fo r a d d itio n a l details. A ll p a r
Because o f ever-increasing costs
ticipating students w ill receive a se
o f p a rticip atio n , we are asking for
lectio n o f stickers especially d e
assistance in sponsoring one w res
signed by the Blazers and A V IA .
tle r fo r several to u rn a m e n ts this
T he Young A m e ric a n S tu d e n t
season. For more info rm ation about
News, a newspaper fo r kids, is as
the c lu b , co n tact Roy A . P i t t
sisting w ith the p ro m o tio n o f the
m an. H ead C o a c h , at 64(8) N o rth
B A S IC p ro g ram s , w hich w ill also
A lb in a , P o rtla n d , O reg o n 97217
include sections focused on reading
or phone 285-4222.
Don Newcomb, former Brooklyn Dodgers ster end recovered
alcoholic addressed the Jefferson High School student body this
week on drug end alcohol abuse Shown here are (l-r) Major Ken
neth Gibson. Salvation Army; Kerrie Meir. Salvation Army. Don
Newcomb and Jefferson principal Nate Jones.
(Photo Richard J. Brown)
tertain e rs not to go dow n th e r e ,"
Ashe said. " A s far as I know. Page
is the o n ly one w h o has slipped
th ro u g h in the last 12 m o n th s ."
IB F heavyw eig ht ch am p io n L a rry
H o lm es was q u o ted as saying th at
King "s h o u ld be ashamed o f h im
s e lf" fo r his aid in staging the Bo-
phuthatsw ana fig h t. " H e 's always
talking about his principles. It seems
he sold th e m ,” H olm es said. " I f a
man has p rin c ip les you c a n 't buy
t h e m ." Ashe said th ere is a possi
bility that King will be expelled from
Artists and Athletes Against A p a rt
heid.
skills as well as general student im
provement.
The old axiom that money makes
the m an seems to have the reverse
e ffe c t on D o n K in g. In this case,
m oney had made him less than a
man.
Blazers sponsor
write-on
program
I housands o f children from more
than 2(81 Po rtlan d area schools are
expected to participate in the writing
p ortio n o f a three-pronged educa
tional m o tivatio n program created
by the P o rtla n d T ra ilB la z e rs and
A V I A A th le tic Shoes, w ith the aid
o f the In te rn a tio n a l Reading Asso
ciation.
The " W rite -O n ” program, which
is part o f B A S IC (B la z e r s -A V IA
Scholastic Improvement Concepts),
w ill reward grade, m iddle and high
school students with d iffic u lt to o b
tain tickets to sold-out Blazer N B A
basketball games.
Students in grades 1 through 12 in
M u ltn o m a h ,
W ash in g to n
and
Clackam as counties are w ritin g cs-
r
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