Page 6, Portland Observer, March 6, 1906
• SPORTTALK• SPORTTALK *
by Roy Lee Jerntgan
Sports Editor
A COLLEGIATE
MINIMUM WAGE
Believe me. I'm not so naive that I
think the following w ill happen; I am,
however, positive that it should. A th
letes that particjpaie in varsi.y collegiate
athletics should be paid for the reve
nues they generate and head coaches
should be made to honor their con
tracts.
College sports have become a multi-
m illion dollar business and the parti
cipants get absolutely nothing. If
your argument is the free education,
forget it. How many graduate? C ol
lege has become little more than a
training and proving ground for pro
fessional leagues. In fact, some pro
leagues deem college preparation as a
mandatory prerequisite prior to entry
into the pay fo r play ranks.
Youngsters that come from low
income families are recruited to college
campuses where obvious wealth is
prevalent. They are compelled to
steal stereos and bootleg game tickets
for pocket money in order to feel
equal to their peers. Rather than make
headline news o f these kids' prob
lems, I say let's look at ways o f pre
venting these unfortunate instances
and try to eliminate the compulsion.
Pay them!
When it comes to paying coaches, it
seems that the purse-strings are un
limited. M any colleges pay their head
basketball and football coaches more
than the salary o f the President o f the
United States. In the case o f Ronnie
Reagan, that seems almost justified.
Let’ s look at just one o f the inequi
ties between coaches and players. A
Lead coach from the PAC 10 finds a
talented athlete in Chicago and sets
out to recruit him. Coach tells the
player that he wants him and w ill be
there for the kid throughout his col
legiate career to guide him, counsel
him, help him become a better player,
and o f course, be his friend. Coach
has a five-year contract so the high
schooler puts his faith in coach and
heads for the PAC 10 after gradu
ation.
Once at college, the kid signs his
scholarship and suddenly finds that
Coach has 12 other friends there and
not enough time for them all. Nothing
can be done now so the kid makes the
best o f the situation. One year later,
Coach has been offered a similar posi
tion in the Big 10. The PAC 10 was
paying close to $50,000, and the new
job offers $200.000 per year, a has
k et hull camp that pays another $50,(XXJ,
and Coach's own television show,
which pays a few thousand more.
You got it — Coach is gone!
The kid that Coach recruited feels
betrayed, and wants to transfer to the
Big 10 also, but there’ s a hitch. Our
young athlete has to forfeit a year's
eligibility to make the same move. In
most instances the athlete will be Black
and the coach w ill be while but leaving
that point aside, there's obviously a
need for some o f these inequities to
be remedied.
As always, when I discuss a prob
lem. I w ill offer a solution. Start at
the minimum wage and pay varsity ath
letes whenever they practice and play
their sport. When on the road, they
six mid be i « k I fur missing theu classes
and a per diem allowance for food.
The hourly wage should increase with
seniority and bonuses paid for indi
vidual honors such as all-conference
and All-Am erica, etc.
Coaches should be made to honor
their contracts and sign letters o f
intent to the players he recruits. When
a coach leaves a player, after contract
ing to be there, that student should be
allowed to transfer without loss o f eli
gibility. I f the coach is fired, the con
tract is voided.
Athletes must maintain a minimum
grade point average to remain eligi
ble Why not require coaches to main
tain a certain percentage o f graduates
to maintain their eligibility to coach.
Am I a dreamer, or what?
•
T-BOHt
stbaks
USDA
CHOICE
BEEF I D .
G ranfa Tony Ross acorad 28 pointa to lead In the Ganarala' 88-47 vic
tory over Molalla In the playoff
Tough Grant defense stops Molalla
Thursday night at Grant High
Schtxil was the end o f the line for the
Indians from M olalla. Grant's press
ing defense and Tony Ross were too
much for the Indians to handle. Grant
won 66-47 in the opening-round game
o f the Class A A A state playoffs.
The Generals started out in a full
court man to man pressure defense
and the Indians could only respond
with some great play by one player,
Joe Clarizio. Tony Ross took control
early on the offensive end, and team
defense did the rest. The Indians were
forced into turnovers at the top o f the
key and the ticnerals turned the steals
into points more often than Molalla
could stand. W ith 1:30 to go in the
first quarter and down 13-4, Molalla
Head Coach Rick Hassman decided
to play for the last shot. It was like a
boxer that came Io last but not to
win.
Clarizio payed like a man possessed
under the boards but had no help be
cause no one else was looking to shoot
the ball. That was the story for Molal
la in the second quarter, and Grant
just kept playing strong defense to
lead at the half 32-21.
The Generals started the third peri
od in a 2-3 zone defense and prom pt
ly turned a steal into 2 points. The
Indians couldn’ t pul up enough shots
in the third quarter to even challenge
Grant and went into the fourth period
down 46-29.
The referees let the kids play a
Mayor Bud Clark (afces w ith Portland athlete« who
will be competing In the first International Sister
physical game under the boards and
Clarizio remained up to the task but
still had no help. The fans began to
get into the game and suddenly the
Indians began to put the ball up to the
hoop with authority. It was 48-37 at
5:19 when the Grant student body be
gan to cry, BORING. That must
have lit the Indians' fire because they
closed to 55-45 at 2:36. Sensing an
other run by the Indians, Grant parti
sans chanted, “ We have sidewalks,
yes we do. We have sidewalks, how
about you?”
A t 1:39, the game was all but over
and the cry from the stands was now,
“ Warm up the horses." The Molalla
faithful saw the writing on the walls
at this point and resorted Io the old
axiom, If you can't win the game,
attack the personality. As time was
running out and Tony Ross was head
ing for a layup, o ff a steal, the Indian
followers chanted, “ We finish high
school, yes we do. We finish high
school, how about you?" It ended
6647 Grant.
When the game ended I was out o f
there. Had there been any more time
on the clock I was prepared to hear.
Your Mama!
M o la lla 47
Joe Clarizio 23, Sutter 3, Melhorn
2, Harris 10, Hester 9.
game held at Grant last Thursday.
(Photo: Dan Longl
PIL results
Saturday, M arch 2
Grant got 21 points from Mark
West and got by Crescent Valley
68-61 Tony Ross hit for 18 and 5 foot
7 sophomore Joe McFerrin scored 8
points in the final four minutes to
spark the Generals' victory on the
road.
Aaron Bell hit for 27 and Courtney
Cellestine bagged 20 to lead Benson
over canby 66-57.
The Roosevelt Roughridcrs were
thrown o ff their horses by Sheldon
50-38. Andre (ieorge had II points
and was the only player in double fig
ures for the Roughriders.
The next issue o f the Observer
will feature the P IL All-Star Team.
PRAIRIE MARKET
Ted Mayes, a ju n io r at Jefferson
High School, is one o f 50 young P ort
land athletes looking forward to rep
resenting Portland at the first Inter
national Sister Cities Association Fes
tival o f Sport to be held in Manakau
C ity, New Z.ealand, from March 30-
A p ril 8.
The athletes, mostly high school
students, have already paid registra
tion fees but need to raise $62.500 to
cover additional costs. They are ask
ing for donations.
Mayor Bud Clark met with the
Support our
advertisers
Ä
PORTLAND
OBSER VER
G ra n t 66
Cities Association Festival of Sport in New Zealand
March 30th through April 8th.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
athletes last week. “ Please join with
me in support o f this rewarding en
deavor and make a generous contri
bution n o w ." he urged Portlanders.
Mayes, a power forward on the
Jefferson basketball team, will play
basketball in New Zealand on a team
from Portland Portland athletes will
play basketball in New Z.ealand on a
team from Portland. Portland ath
letes w ill play against athletes from 40
countries. Rugby, soccer tennis and
many other sports w ill be represented
Competition at the Sportiest is not
as important as international under
ORIGON CITY - S 7 I Molalla Ave.
HILLSBORO 460 S.l. Oak
FORIST GR0VI - 1531 Pacific Ava.
PORTLAND 74tk and Gliran
741) N. l i t t e r
14410 S.l. Divirion
14SS S .l. P tw tll Blvd.
- 1410 N .l. 172nd
Tony Ross 28, West 17, Van 2,
Roberts 5, McFerrin 9, Kinney 2,
Adams 2, Goodlow I .
There s work time Dues-
paytng time Other people s
time And then there s your
time Time to make every
minute count with the rich,
smooth taste of Miller High Life.
So grab a cold one And
Welcome To Miller Time"
International Sportsfest draws athletes
by Robert Lothian
J
FRESH MEAT IS AVAILABLE AT
LOMBARD •
PORTLAND
PORTLAND
, SAN RAFAH
standing and eixipcration, said Mayes.
He’ s looking forward to the trip be
cause “ it w ill give us a chance to meet
different people from different coun
tries and see how they do things." he
said.
Subsequent Sportfcsls will take
place in Japan in I987 and Australia
in 1989 Portland is a candidate for
the 1991 Sportiest.
Tax deductible contributions can
be sent to the Sports Exchange Com
mittee. Portland Sister Cities Associa
tion, 1220 S W. 5th Ave., Portland,
OR 97204, 248-4120
c 1 M2 Meier Brewtnç Co MriwauR*«