Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1985)
Q by Hoy L i t Jermyan Sports Editor THE 1986 ALL STATE BASKETBALL TEAM A JOKE In years past, I have laughingly just passed aside the Oregon All-State basketball selections but this year I have an outlet for my commentary Only in Oregon can kids be so severe ly hurt and disappointed by the media's neglect o f their abilities. Per sonally, I believe it is intentional. In I9HJ, Cindy Brown led the Grant Generals to the finals in the girls' Class A A A , where they lost to Crook County. I watched each game Grant played that year and there was no better basketball player in the state • • SPORT TALK • SPORT TALK • pur with many ol the votu^ coaches. How many times do you think that the d«ch from Ontario High School saw Andre («orge or Aaron Bell play1 By the way, the boys "Player of the Year” was Bnan King ol Ontario Ihey must play a pretty heavy schedule over there, wherever over there is. The boys' first team is as white as the paper I'm typing on, and we know better than that If the kids could play heller hall than the ones they heat out, I wouldn't have a word to say but they can’t, and I do. There was not one sportswriter that attended the boys' than ( indy Brown. When "Player of the Year" honors weren't bestowed on Cindy, I went nuts. There was only one All-American in the state for girls that year, and it was ( indy Brown but she couldn't win player of the year in her own state. For all o f Cindy's efforts, Rappin’ Rodney got more respect than she did. They're at it again. The best Tony Ross, Anthony Butler, and l-affaira Taylor could get was Honorable M en tion. Aaron Bell was left out com pletely. It slinks! (in the girls' side o f the ledger, Traci Thirdgill could manage only another honorable mention. Karon Howell made the first team and was selected “ Player o f the Y ear." There was little that could’ve been done to deny Karon her honors because she led her team to back to back state championships. The Class A A A teams were select cd by a vote o f all the boys’ and girls’ high school basketball coaches in Oregon. That revelation should make at least a lew of them hang their heads. I will confess that I have not seen all of the players selected, which puts me at state tournament that didn't recognize Kalb Smith and Tony Ross' dominant abilities Keith was snubbed to the third team. Lalfaira Taylor led the tourna ment in rebounding and couldn’t make the Tournament All-Star team, not to mention All-Stale Imdsay Strothers led his St. Mary's Blues to the championship in his first year as head coach and didn't get a sniff at "Coach of the Year.” That dubious distinction went to the coach friwn West lunn. He sure had a kw to do with a team that was so big their point guard was 5-foot-11. I no longer have to wonder why kids from Oregon have such a tough time ciwtipeting on a national level; they're surrounded by coaches that have tunnel vision and are sorry judges of talent For you kids that have hem subjected to this travesty, take heart in the fact that there are other that recognize your tal ents without blinders on. Use this ex perience to make you a stronger and better individual. I'm here to tell you, many others have suffered the same fate and have used the experience to spur themselves on to greater achieve ments. This is only a sample o f what they have out there for you. Remem ber it, but don't dwell on it, and when you see it being done to others after you. Pass it on! BLAZERS ROLL TO PLAYOFFS The Trail Blazers are in. The Phoe nix Suns came to town Tuesday night limping and left on crutches after being manhandled by the Blazers 116-KX). The home team had already clinched a playoff spot and the win over the Suns put the Blazers one game over the .5<M) mark. I won't go into that nonsense about if the playolfs started today, because they don't. No matter which team the Blazers face in the first series, they must win. Trying to escape the Los Angeles bracket won't do either, the Inkers arc going to he there. The overtime loss to the Lakers Sunday proved conclusively that the Blazers are ready to play for the m ar bles. Kenny ( art has proved himvelt to be the glue for this team and with the rough-house playoff style that's ahead. Kenny should more than prove his worth. The bench lix»kx good, as long as Valentine stays on it. Pax is coming KENNY CARR around to form, which is definitely a plus, and Clyde............. is Clyde. Sam needed that game against Kareem Sunday to clear his head o f that idol izing rhetoric he's been dishing out. One dumb pass doesn’t lose a ball- game, so I won't come down on Mychal Besides Mychal has played more consistently good ball than any Blazer this year. Steve C o lte r.. . my man. Now that Jack has found out that this young man is his best point guard, let's see what happens when the playoffs start. Kiki still can't rebound or play defense but I like him on the offensive end. The physical playoff game won't be up K iki’s alley so we might, and should see a lot o f Jerome Kersey. On the basketball door, I like this team. I picked them to lake the West ern Conference when the season start ed and I ’m going to stick to that O ff the hardwood is another story alto gether. Before the Brothers leave for the summer, we'll get to that story, loo. In order for me io get to the meat o f that story, I need some input from you. our readers. What are your feel ings concerning the team members and their involvement in our com munity affairs? Do you consider them as memberss o f this community? Don't stop me on the street and tell me; pul it on paper so we can print it and see what the community reaction is. Tsnnla great Arthur Ash« will host "A Hard Road to Glory: The Black Athlete In A m erica," a two-hour special featuring interview» with many Black athletes, seldom seen action footage and dramatic re-enactment» to capture Am erica's rivltlng sports drama. The Duke Report — Portland's Urban Contemporary News Show. Our journalistic focus is youth, neighborhoods and Portlanders o f color. Sunday, M onday, Thursday and Friday 9:00 p.m . - 9:30 p.m . CHANNEL 23 CHANNEL and exclusion. In rare contests with whiles, triumph was treated with violent anger by the broader society and defeat With glee And yet, Black athletes prevailed In today's America the Black athlete is a paragon, heroic in stature to the point o f stereotype. And even this has proven to be a stumbling block, another reason among many that the path of athletes for the Black American has been " A Hard Road to G lo ry ." The ProScrv Television prixluction of " A Hard Road to Glory: The Black Athlete in Am erica," is based on extensive research conducted by tennis great and on-camera host Arthur Ashe. The two-hour special incorporates seldom-seen as well as famous foot age and photographs, dramatic re enactments o f significant moments in American history and interviews with people who changed the world II represents the first time that the role of the Black athlete in American so ciety has been so thoroughly docu mented. " A Hard Road lo G lory" captures and defines America's most riveting sports drama. In the ProScrv Television produc tion the drama begins with the legend ary and controversial Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight champion of the world Arthur Ashe, sealed on the edge of a large desk in a sunlit study with fxxikshelves and portraits ol Black athletes visible behind him, explains that Johnson’s victory was the pivotal moment in the history of Black American athletics. Ashe points out that Johnson’s victory over Jim Jeffries in Reno, Nevada, in 1910 marked the end of a pervasive believe among whites that Blacks were not physical equals The camera zooms lo a portrait of a de termined and fierce Jack Johnson framed on the wall behind Ashe, and as the shot dissolves into footage of one o f Johnson’s histone fights, the narrator — James Lari Jones — begins the talc o f a dock-worker who turned to lighting when he discovered he was pretty good with his fists......... still photographs are shown of John son as he pursued the heavyweight champion around the world in pur suit of a title fight.........there's action footage o f him winning the world title, then defending it against Jcf- n es.. and newspaper headlines about the killings that followed; the nar rator then puts the event into per spective — an American forced to ac cept the truth that an athlete, at least, is made by talent and determination, and not by the shade o f his skin. Using this truth as a springboard, the production lulls buck lo the roots of Black athleticism. Dianne IXirham, the first world-class Black gymnast, is seen performing a llixir exercise rou tine Her talent, it is explained, is in born and God-given. As she leaps into the air, her spin slows and there is an electric rhythm The narrator says that her talent, like that o f Jack John son and the many who came before, simply needed the right nurturing in order to hlixim The seed o f gteatness was planted long ago in the soil where the hard road began As the music heightens, an African village appears much as it would have been four hundred years ago. C hil dren are playing games that involve tumbling, wrestling and running the tribe’s most esteemed young men arc hunters — athletes who succeed on agility, speed, cnduraixr and strength. The social fabric o f the African vil lage carries a theme: survival and honor are achieved through athletic activity. Il tv a theme that will remain through the dark days o f slavery and civil war, through deprivation and discrimination, and will nourish again in 20ih Century America On this foundation — a pivotal moment early in this century and a quiet moment in the larthest reaches o f Black sports history — the pro gram is built. Ashe intrtxluces the subject at hand from his study or from a significant historical location (such at Comiskcy Park in Chicago, where the Negro Ixague all-star games were played and where Joe Louts won the world heavyweight championship). Dram at ic re-enactments include boxing scenes with Tom Molincaux early in the IWXK, horse racing with the great 19th Century jockeys Monkey Simon and Isaac Murphy, and the crucial, personal moment in 1910 that inspired Branch Rickey to sign Jackie Robin son to the Brooklyn Dixlgers almost 40 years later. Historical footage includes Jesse Owens running against and Joe Louts fighting against H itler’s supposed supermen, plus footage and stills of Black baseball, football, basketball and tennis stars, even bicycle racers. The emergence o f Black women in sports is seen in footage and inter views. Olympic superstars Wyomta Tyus and W ilm a Rudolph and tennis great Althea Gibson arc featured. The role o f the Black athlete in the political turbulence o f the I96<>s will be portrayed through the young Cas sius Clay and the older Muhammad Alt, and through Tom my Smith and John Carlos. PORTLAND MEADOWS POST T IM E Wed.-Fri.-7:00 p.m. Sat. Sun.-1:30 p.m FREE COUPON Use This Coupon for FREE Admission at Any Gate PO 407 N.E. M ason • Ph. 284-6696 A New Portrait Studio Near You Soecializino In • • • • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * acceptability and sometimes even survival through sports from the moment the first slave ship left an African shore. Then lor centuries all games involving Blacks in America were couched in official racism, ever present hatred, violence, ignorance AT ArCsCustomPhotography A Hard Road to Glory - Because the athletic contest at its best is a pure measure of ability that regards nothing but results, it has often been the only avenue toward esteem open to an outcast American minority. Taking what society would give, Black athletes began fighting for HORSERACING Wedding« Proms Promo Shots Anniversaries • • • • Special Occasions Portfolios Instant Prints LTD Video Services 2 Special Easter Offer I Open Easter Sunday 10-7 ’ ■ Tw o 5x7 Photos in Folder Only $6 50 Reg. $15.00 Save $8 50 ! Payable at time of sitting * EXPIRES 4/17/86 Let A rt’s Custom Photography Show the Best in Youl REASONABLE RATES VISA MASTERCHARGE OPEN T ubs Fn. 10 a m 7 p m . S«t. 9 « m 6 p m . Closed Sun Mon
