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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1985)
Q • SPORT TALK ♦ SPORT TALK * A portion o f last week's Sport Talk was very confusing to you I ’m sure. I apologize fo r m isprint! The para graph should have read: I get more enjoyment out o f our local P ll games than the brand o f basketball these two schools (Oregon State and U . of Oregon) play. Let's skip across coun try and talk about some basketball played by a Black university in A t lanta, G a. . .1 hope that clears things up for you . . and me. Last week, the W o rld C ham pion Boston Celtics came into town and p ro m p tly ran in to a buzzsaw. The T r a il Blazers were ready to avenge that I-point loss they suffered in Bos ton on the Blazers' swing through the east. Although the Blazers had won their two previous games, the games against the Celtics w ill prove to be the turning point in the season. C ir cumstance, that's what won the championship in 1977 when Twardzik went down and John Davis spear headed the Blazers’ drive through the playo ffs, and u ltim ately the rin g .' Circum stance has raised it's head again for the T rail Blazers and once again the team has benefited. During a practice session prior to the Boston game, Jerome Kersey and Kiki Vande- pushes players out of his way and takes out for 7-10 days. Clyde has stepped right in and has given the team all that it had been lacking to win — ex plosiveness and rebounds. Boston began the game trying tc post up Clyde down low because he was defending Larry Bird. T hat m a neuver might have been the downfall for the Celts because Clyde turned those first three plays, to B ird, into 6-points for the Blazers. Bird had the task of defending Sam Bowie and that was quickly changed when Sam hit a few 18* jumpers to establish his out side shooting ability. Down l(M , K.C. Jones called a timeout. Boston came out with full court pressure but to no avail, Portland was into their running game and couldn't be stopped. At 801 it was 20-6 T ra il Blazers. K .C . spent another timeout. DrexJer was starting the fast break o ff o f rebounds and de fense while Darnell was running the ball down Boston’s throat. This was fun and getting better each time Port land controlled the b all. Sam was blocking shots, Darnell was penetrat ing at full speed without turning the ball over, Clyde was playing both ends of the court and Kersey was just check ing in. T h e speed o f the game was going to force Jack to substitute liber ally, and often. The pace slowed just a tad in the second quarter but Boston was still being beaten by their own game, the fast break o ff transition. The halftime score read 66-46, home team on top. The th ird quarter began, as the game did, with Bird taking Clyde low but the results were the same, fast break baskets for Po rtlan d. Boston made several runs to dose the scoring gap because the Blazers began to play tentatively in spots and were stand ing around trying to hang onto the lead It was 90-81 Portland, going into the fourth period when D arn ell got his running shoes back on and Portland was ready to respond to any runs the Celtics were going to make. Clyde reached back to Texas to slam a break away and the team ran right through the final period to win going away 111-103. By now you know the box scares, so I will just tell you who the true ring leaders were, in this rout of the World Champs. Jack ramsey coached his butt o ff, Sam intim itated everyone and Darnell and Clyde provided the spark that lit the Blazers* fire. Larry Bird gets away with more pushing and shoving than the law allows. When the man from French Lick, Indiana, de cides that he wants position, he simply pushes plays out of his way and takes it. fincss is not his game. Remember how Michael Cooper kept Hying over the sidelines during last year's play offs? W e ll, Bird just picks players up and moves them. T h e re’s no use complaining to the refs, either; they simply raise their hands and move on down the flo o r. Robert Parish sprained an ankle after leaving Port land so now w e'll see who Boston's real M V P is. W e w ill also see what Jack does when K ik i returns to the lineup. Sam Bowie has made the start ing lineup very d iffic u lt fo r Kenny C an to crack. It's going to be interest ing, isn't it Jack? The W ashington Bullets and the kansas C ity Kings came to the M C after Boston and took their lumps here, also. The team has new life now and all o f the momentum it needs to play some good ball on their upcoming road schedule Have you ever noticed that when Black athletes attain greatness in sports and become heros in the eyes o f our Black youth, they are promptly arrest- ed? Edwin Moses is a prime example of this national conspiracy to deprive our youth o f their own heros. The jury returned a not guilty verdict fast er than Kathy Smith changes the color of her hair, to vindicate the ridiculous charges o f solicitation against Moses. Even with the not guilty verdict, sports writers coast to coast have begun to speculate how this arrest will effect the endorsements that Moses is paid to represent. Putting negative ideas in the public's mind and force the brother to lose his money-making ability, can be the only purpose for what has been done to this man. Sports personality How ard Cosell has tried to spearhead a campaign to ban boxing w ith the help o f the Am erican M edical Assocition, the American Academy o f Pediatrics and the American Neurological Society. Howard says he used to believe that the sport is an avenue o f opportunity for the underprivileged. " B u t the whole argument is specious," he now says. "O nly a handful ever succeed at it. The rest wind up fractured peo ple." The fractured people that I believe How ard is talking about and woried over are the white fighters that pro moters try to find to dethrone the m in ority title holders. Blacks and híspanles own practically every crown in the boxing game. Promoters beat the bush to find someone to take the title from Muhammed All, as soon as he changed his name. T h a t d id n 't work, so they tried to arrest him and take the title that way. Larry Holmes didn't have to face ja il, he only had to whip Jerry Cooney. H ad you W hy would a high school basket ball star miss a year o f playing, right in the midst o f an outstanding high school career? For some players, there are just too many demands placed on them. In the case of Clyde Drexler, a guard/ forward for the Portland trail Blazers, the reason was decidedly different. He chose to stop playing for a year to concentrate on maintaining his " A " average in school. " I was so involved in academics I d id n 't have time for basketball. But mom and my brother encouraged me a lot and made sure I played again the next year." As for now, his prim ary devotion is to the game o f basketball. Drexler describes his excitement for the game: " I t enlightens my whole w orld. I t ’s similar to the game o f life. You’re not going to win all the tim e, but if you can bounce back when you lose, it'll make you a better person." His two thrilling clutch shots towrds the end o f a recent Boston Celtics game indicate he is the right Blazer to go to at crunch tim e. " A t the end o f a game I'm at my best," says Clyde. "1 concentrate so much during the course o f the game that at the end, especially in the clutch, I want the ball and I want it bad." W ith the Blazers* ups and downs this year, it would be easy for Drexler to point the finger at others. But ra ther than doing that, he tries to do a little extra by going for loose balls, playing strong defense, rebounding more and making a pass that leads to a score. STOUT* 271 m 257 2S 2 216 153 242 IS 6 15* 13? HI»«* 4 • 35 37 4 ¿* 25 25 IS IS 15 etftC K 43 25 2« 31 27 24 24 17 11 5 SHOW 31 24 24 31 28 22 14 13 12 II X OF H|»«* 1 5 .9 2 2 .5 1 4 .4 IS .6 1 2 .8 IS .3 IS . 3 IS . 1 10. 1 IS .9 SM0H 13 13 4 2 4 It 3 S 3 4 3 OF Ml»«* 1 7 .S 1 5 .4 1 3 .7 1 1 .7 IS . 1 S ¿ 3 .8 4 .9 14 1 2 .5 QUA TTO A M O TW . JO C K TV IT A M O M M . 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EDWARD E. WARD DMD ADA Member OPEN MON Through SAT EVENINGS AVAILABLE V .lid .t« ) Parking Dental Insurance Accepted 228 3009 CLYDE DREXLER So be it education or basketball, Drexler and his fam ily take their re sponsibilities seriously. Six brothers and sisters are either going to college or have graduated. Clyde is working on his finance degree during summers at the University o f Houston, and plans to work in the banking industry when his basketball career is over. Clyde the G lid e’s charisma affects many in the Portland com m unity. He's established himself for his bas ketball abilities and now he's agreed to become C hairm an o f the B lazer/ Avia Reading Fitness Program . In this program , he w ill be in the posi tion to encourage thousands o f stu dents to read more. The education o f Clyde Drexler continues in all facets o f his life. It will be exciting for everyone to share in his continued success. Some think mirrors draw lightening. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -128.6 deg. F. at Vostok, Antarctica, on Jly 22,1983. a • The highest shade temperature on record is 136.4 deg. F noted at Al'Aziziyah, Libya, on September 13, 1922. W e do not do business w ith South Africa American State Bank AN INOEPENOENT BANK Head Office 2737 N. E. Union Portland, Oregon 97212 Portland Meadows update: T M a a o u a H a tw o j o c u v F4ÛMF M IL L * SUFCWf) 0 O " l0 S 0 N »Ü0V LONG 6 6 IO N 0 * jA G O T M L J t* F W » J f l K S M |» T M « lF K V T 8RUN0 CUÎM PCA TW N ALLOW T0M ILL K fH only praised for the tremendous job he dyl with no mention o f his past dis cretions. Only in America! Minority athletes have a tough road ahead ahead o f them and the last thing they need is Howard Cosell push ing them backwards. Look through the weqht divisions in boxing and I ’m sure you w ill fin d that the white athletes arc substantially in the minor ity. As fa r as I'm concerned, these white fighters should not be denied the opportunity to earn a living un less they are given an alternative live- style by those who wish to take their present occupation away. stickings can cause the same brain damage that the above mentioned American asotiations eluded to. How many Blacks or Hispanics are there in the NH L? Baseball, football and basketball are dominated by Black athletes that have been forced to deal with the stigma of drug abuse because the w hite press wants to tear dow n our children's heros. Bobby Knight is a fugitive from Puerto Rico but he still coaches at Indiana. I f he were Black or Hispanic, do you think he would still have a job? Knight was the coach fo r the U.S. Olympic basketball team and was Drexler put his education first PONTLANO M M O O W S top « J O C M V s u a v n A s a r» « « FULCMS 1 a a 4 • • » a a • heard o f Cooney before his fight with Holmes? Now they’ve gone to South A fric a to get a w hite heavyweight contender and that hasn't w orked, either. Lightw eight cham pion L iv ingstone Bramble hit "Boom Boom” M ancini everywhere but under his tongue in their rem atch, and the judges all had Bramble ahead by one point in their final decision. Things got so bad for Mancini that his comer was trying to tell the ref that Bramble was cutting their fighter with the braids in his (Bramble’s, hair The drive to ban boxing can only deprive m inority fighters o f a decent livelihood. H ow many race car d riv ers are killed each year? That's a pre dominately white sport so there's no ground swell to abolish rating. Hockey can be an extremely dangerous sport and the number o f fights and high BUFORD MILLS, JR. • Buford Mills, Jr., a 19-year-old Ca nadian reinsman, has surged into the nding lead at Portland Meadows. M ills headed into the Presidents* Day weekend at Portland Meadows with a total of 43 wins, six in front of Brian Long, a 22-year-old Californian who is picking up steam as the race meet progresses. Jody Davidson, the 22-year-old Ridgefield booter, forfeited his lead in the jockey standings, after shipping out fo r G olden State Fields in San Francisco. Right o ff, Davidson piloted Apache Lark, owned by A . T . (Tex) Irw in o f Battleground, to a stunning victory in a $40.000 claiming race. M ills has his sights set on Long- acres race track in Seattle where he plans to compete when Portland Mea dows closes its spring meeting A p ril 28. There is a possibility that he may spend the summer, however, at E x hibitio n Park in Vancouver, B .C ., where he rode with great success last you Jockey G ary Baze was released from Em anuel H o sp ital earlier this week and sent home to recover from internal injuries suffered in a tw o- horse spill a couple of weeks ago. Let Portland Observer JOBS (w ork fo r you ! call 283-0090 QUARTER PORK LOINS STEAKS & CHOPS MIXED
