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.
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A Friendly Relaxed
Professional
Atmosphere
DOWNTOWN PORTLAND
FAMILY DENTISTRY
OR. EDWARD E. WARD DMD
ADA Member
OPEN MON Through SAT
EVENINGS AVAILABLE
V .lid .t« ) Parking
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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:
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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
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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
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call 283-0090
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